Typewriters, Qwerty & Typing
Christopher Latham Sholes(1819-1890)
Sholes was a U.S. mechanical engineer who invented the first practical modern
typewriter, patented in 1868. Sholes invented the typewriter with partners S. W.
Soule and G. Glidden, that was manufactured (by Remington Arms Company) in 1873.
He was born February 14, 1819 in Mooresburg, Pennsylvania, and died on February
17, 1890 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Before the computer, the typewriter may have been the most significant everyday
business tool. Christopher Latham Sholes and his colleagues, Carlos Glidden and
Samuel Soulé, invented the first practical typewriting machine in 1866. Five
years, dozens of experiments, and two patents later, Sholes and his associates
produced an improved model similar to today’s typewriters.
The type-bar system and the universal keyboard were the machine’s novelty, but
the keys jammed easily. To solve the jamming problem, another business
associate, James Densmore, suggested splitting up keys for letters commonly used
together to slow down typing. This became today’s standard "QWERTY" keyboard.
Sholes lacked the patience required to market the new product and sold the
rights to Densmore. He, in turn, convinced Philo Remington (of rifle fame) to
market the device. The first "Sholes & Glidden Type Writer" was offered for sale
in 1874 but was not an instant success. A few years later, improvements made by
Remington engineers gave the machine its market appeal and sales skyrocketed.
George K. Anderson of Memphis, Tennessee patented the typewriter ribbon on
9/14/1886.
The first electric typewriter was the Blickensderfer.
In 1944, IBM designs the first typewriter with proportional spacing.
Pellegrine Tarri made the first typewriter proven to work in 1801 and invented
carbon paper in 1808.
In 1829, William Austin Burt invents the typographer, a predecessor to the
typewriter.
Mark Twain enjoyed and made use of new inventions, he was the first author to
submit a typewritten manuscript to his publisher.