The site that I found was a tongue in cheek history of ScanTron.
ScanTrons use OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) to grade tests, fill out
healthcare forms, and any other application you can think of. OMR uses the mark from the number two pencil
to block the light coming through the sheet. OMR started becoming really
popular in schools for testing in the 1930s. An interesting observation in the
article is that punch tape; from the mid 19th century is an early
form of OMR. The site even answers the question, do you really need to use a
number two pencil on a ScanTron- complete with graph of the darkness of
different pencils! Check out the hilarious XKCD comic on the bottom of the
page, too! I found the comic separately first, and was going to submit the
link, but then I saw it was included in the article. You can find the site at http://io9.com/5908833/the-birth-of-scantrons-the-bane-of-standardized-testing
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