On June 23, 1868, four men, Christopher Latham Sholes, Frank Haven Hall, Carlos Glidden and Samuel W. Soule, successfully patented the first typewriter as we know it today. Their machine was built on the ideas and labor of many inventors before them but they were the first in the United States to patent and commercially produce a typewriter. Their basic typewriter design has continued to this day.

Three of the four, Hall, Glidden and Soule, sold their shares to Sholes who partnered with James Densmore. Those two man in turn made an agreement with E. Remington and Sons to commercialize the machine they called The Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer. (E. Remington and Sons at the time was the manufacturer of quality sewing machines.) It was then the QWERTY keyboard layout was first used. The success of The Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer inspired other typewriter manufacturers to copy the QWERTY keyboard. The name QWERTY came from the keyboard order of the first six letter keys on the top row, left side, of the keyboard.

There is much history regarding the development of the typewriter. Many may remember the IBM Selectric Typewriter that uses an interchangeable “ball” covered with embossed letters to imprint the typed words on the paper using carbon tape for ink. Much to my surprise, the letter ball was not invented by IBM in 1961 especially for the Selectric Typewriter. Over 90 years earlier, back in 1870, Rev. Rasmus Malling-Hansen of Denmark invented the writing ball and it was used in Europe until 1909. Hansen’s machine was operated by a “solenoid escapement” that returned the carriage. It is perceived as a version of the first “electric typewriter.”

So the next time you sit at a computer keyboard give a nod of appreciation to Sholes, Glidden and the E. Remington & Sons company.