On this day in 1795 Nicolas Jacques Conte announced to the world he had discovered a new pencil-making process that mixed clay and graphite to form a hardened writing tip of lead. As is the case today, there really was no lead in Jacques "lead" pencil. Somehow the name "lead pencil" stuck, and over the years man has found many good uses for the graphite in his writing stick. Graphite is a natural lubricant, and rubbing a pencil's soft tip on keys that go into locks and tape measures that retract keeps them working smoothly. The objects that receive the pencil treatment won't collect dirt nor gather grime as they would if oils were applied instead. And that's the On The House (pencil) tip for today.