Nicolas-Jacques Conté
Nicolas-Jacques Conté was born on August 4, 1755. See ranking, bio blurb, and everyone else born that day.
About Nicolas-Jacques Conté
Nicolas-Jacques Conté (French pronunciation: [nikɔla ʒak kɔ̃te]; 4 August 1755 – 6 December 1805) was a French inventor of the modern pencil. He was born at Saint-Céneri-près-Sées (now part of Aunou-sur-Orne) in Normandy to a family of poor farm labourers, and distinguished himself for his mechanical genius, which was of great avail to the French army in Egypt. Napoleon called him "a universal man with taste, understanding and genius capable of creating the arts of France in the middle of the Arabian Desert".