National Handwriting Day

National Handwriting Day was invented in 1977 when educators began to feel that the art of handwriting was getting lost as a skill. The Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association (WIMA) decided to do something about this, and that is how National Handwriting Day came about.

While not everyone celebrates this day, it is taking more prominence now, and more people than ever are taking part.

According to historians, the art of handwriting was invented in 3400 BC in Mesopotamia where they would write cuneiform on a clay tablet. From there, the art of writing spread to Egypt, then Rome, and then the rest of Europe.

As handwriting spread throughout Europe, good writing skills became a sign of status, as royal families were the only ones taught to write properly. In the 1700s the world's first handwriting and penmanship schools were formed to train scribes.