Can I type this without the history? NOOOO!!!
As I'm typing this, I'm saying "Happy birthday, typewriter!"
March 1, 1873 - E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, New York, begins production of the first practical typewriter.
The "shift" key, allowing for capitalization and double-use keys (for example, "8" is also "*"), was introduced in 1878.
The "tab" key was added in the 1890s.
The 1873 typewriter established the "QWERTY" layout for the letter keys, and has become the de facto standard for English-language typewriter and computer keyboards.
One popular explanation for the QWERTY arrangement is that it was designed to reduce the likelihood of internal clashing of typebars by placing commonly used combinations of letters farther from each other inside the machine.
Another story is that the QWERTY layout allowed early typewriter salesmen to impress their customers by being able to easily type out the example word "typewriter" because "typewriter" can be spelled purely on the top row of the keyboard.
A third story is that the QWERTY layout was chosen by picking letters out of a hat at random.
There is no evidence to support any of these claims.
March 1, 1873 - E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, New York, begins production of the first practical typewriter.
The "shift" key, allowing for capitalization and double-use keys (for example, "8" is also "*"), was introduced in 1878.
The "tab" key was added in the 1890s.
The 1873 typewriter established the "QWERTY" layout for the letter keys, and has become the de facto standard for English-language typewriter and computer keyboards.
One popular explanation for the QWERTY arrangement is that it was designed to reduce the likelihood of internal clashing of typebars by placing commonly used combinations of letters farther from each other inside the machine.
Another story is that the QWERTY layout allowed early typewriter salesmen to impress their customers by being able to easily type out the example word "typewriter" because "typewriter" can be spelled purely on the top row of the keyboard.
A third story is that the QWERTY layout was chosen by picking letters out of a hat at random.
There is no evidence to support any of these claims.
