Birmingham pen trade same time Osmiroid International had a large production plant in the city. Birmingham pen trade The Birmingham pen trade evolved in the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter and its surrounding area in the 19th century; for many years, the city was the centre of the world's pen trade. In Newhall Street, John Mitchell manufactured pens; he pioneered mass production of steel pens (prior to this, the quill pen was the most common form of writing instrument). Mitchells are credited as being the first manufacturers to use machines to cut pen nibs, greatly speeding up the process. John's brother William later set up
Modern Times: Photography in the 20th Century Modern Times: Photography in the 20th Century Modern Times: Photography in the 20th Century was the first exhibition focussed on artists of the 20th century to be held by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The show, whose title is also "Modern Times" in Dutch and which ran from November 2014 to January 2015, was also the first exhibition to be held in the re-opened Philips Wing, a part of the museum that was remodeled to host temporary exhibitions. It was the museum's second photography exhibition after its successful "A new art: Photography in the 19th century", held in 1996.