The most common type of institutional sharpener, the hand-cranked type you can still see mounted to a wall or the teacher's table in classrooms all over the world, was introduced in 1904.

“I’ve always loved the iconic No. 2 pencil,” he explained. “When I was working for the 2010 census, we were each issued No. 2 pencils and a manual sharpener.

Yes, "The Campaign for the Accurate Measurement of Creativity" is a Kickstarter for a pencil sharpener attached to a mason jar. And yes, this is pretty silly. It's also, however, a worthwhile ...