We hardly raise questions on things we use in our day to day life. One of the most common things we notice on a daily basis but never pay attention to are the holes we see at the end of ballpoint pens.

You might have never questioned as to why there is a tiny hole at the end of a ballpoint pen. Probably if you’d have questioned it, but might have inferred that they are nothing but for some weird industrial design reason.

Some of you might have also thought that its purpose is to dry ink faster. A few borderline paranoid users used to believe that companies did this on purpose to reduce the ink life forcing one to buy pens more often. But, that really isn’t the case.

Another theory claimed that the tiny hole at the end of the cap helped equalize the atmospheric pressure inside the cap and prevent the flow of ink when the lid is being put. Well, it isn’t false.

But this is not it’s really made for. In fact, the idea behind the tiny hole at the end of the pen’s cap can be largely said as an absolute genius.

One of the oldest and most popular ballpoint pen makers, Bic Cristal, originally made it part of their design to include a small hole at the end of the cap.

Here is the real reason:

It’s a pretty well-known fact that toddlers often like to put things in their mouths and that instinct can often lead to trouble. Among the most dangerous things babies could ingest are pen caps.

Considering that pen caps were one of the common objects swallowed by children causing them to choke and proved fatal, the hole was put in to allow passage of air in case the dreadful event happened.

Hence, in case, pen caps were swallowed accidentally, the tiny holes won’t block the flow of air into the lungs completely.

But that doesn’t mean you should breathe easy when your toddler takes your pen. Though the hole has prevented many deaths, swallowed pen cap can still create enough of an airway obstruction to be deadly. The shocking fact is that pen caps still kill about 100 people per year.