Pencil Sharpeners exist as electrical and hand powered forms. Before sharpeners were invented they sharpened pencils with a knife. Pencil sharpeners make this job easier and make the pencil neater. Some pencils such as the carpenters pencil still have to be sharpened with a knife because of the flat shape they have, but a sharpener has been invented for it. The first manual pencil sharpener were invented by Therry des Estwaux in 1828. John Lee Love invented the ‘portable’ sharpener that was originally made for artists. About.com claims that Raymond Loewy designed the first electric sharpener in the late 1940’s. Now they come in a wide range of shapes, colours and sizes. Most sharpeners come with a case around them, then just remove the case to empty and replace.  

I got my Information from Wikipedia.

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holly2_sharpeners

Alligators have wider snouts than crocodiles. Both the Alligator and Crocodile tend to be darker in colour. The colour depends on the water usually. In crocodiles, when the mouth is shut you can see the top and bottom teeth, but in an alligator you can only see the top teeth, when the mouth is closed.  An average alligator’s weight is 360 kg and 4 m long. An alligator’s lifespan is usually estimated to be 50 years or more. An Alligator named Muja has lived for at least 70 years. Muja had been living in a zoo since 1937.  Another Alligator has lived to be more than 72 years old and died last year.

   A male freshwater crocodile at the Australia zoo is estimated to be 130 years old. He was rescued from the wild by Bob and Steve Irwin after being shot twice by hunters. Because of the shootings, this crocodile has lost his right eye. Large Crocodiles can reach over 5 metres long and weigh heaps over 1200 Kgs. 

An alligator   By GrandmaDee

A crocodile   By Thai Jasmine

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