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AT A GLANCE:The evolution of the typewriter is part of the ongoing history of the human need to communicate. Gradually a machine emerged that revolutionized the work of the writer. In 1867, Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule invented the first practical mechanical typewriter machine. THE STORY RELATED INFO BOOKS WEB SITES DID YOU KNOW? Invention: typewriter Function: noun / type·writ·er Definition: A mechanical or electromechanical machine for writing in characters similar to those produced by printer's type by means of keyboard-operated types striking a ribbon to transfer ink or carbon impressions onto the paper. Patent: 79,265 (US) issued June 23, 1868 Inventor: Christopher Latham Sholes Criteria; First practical. Birth: February 14, 1819 in Mooresburg, Pennsylvania Death: February 17, 1890 in  Milwaukee, Wisconsin Nationality: American Milestones: 1714 The first patent for a 'writing machine' was given to Henry Mill of England 1829 William Burt of the US patented his typographer machine 1868 Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule patent type writing machine 1872 Thomas Alva Edison builds first electric typewriter 1873 Remington & Sons mass produces the Sholes & Glidden typewriter 1978 Olivetti Company and the Casio Company develope electronic typewriter CAPS: Christopher Latham Sholes, Carlos Glidden, Samuel Soule, William Burt, Henry Mill, Sholes & Glidden typewriter, ARY, typewriter, type-writing machine, type writing machine, SIP, history, biography, inventor, invention.

The Story: The idea behind the typewriter was to apply the concept of movable type developed by Johann Gutenberg in the invention of the printing press century to a machine for individual use. Descriptions of such mechanical writing machines date to the early eighteenth century. In 1714, a patent something like a typewriter was granted to a man named Henry Mill in England, but no example of Mills’ invention survives. In 1829, William Burt from Detroit, Michigan patented his typographer which had characters arranged on a rotating frame. However, Burt’s machine, and many of those that followed it, were cumbersome, hard to use, unreliable and often took longer to produce a letter than writing it by hand.Finally, in 1867, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin printer-publisher-politician named Christopher Latham Sholes, with assistance from Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule, patented what was to be the first useful typewriter. He licensed his patent to Remington & Sons of Ilion, New York, a noted American gun maker. In 1874, the Remington Model 1, the first commercial typewriter, was placed on the market. Based on Sholes’ mechanical typewriter, the first electric typewriter was built by Thomas Alva Edison in the United States in 1872, but the widespread use of electric typewriters was not common until the 1950s.The electronic typewriter, a typewriter with an electronic "memory" capable of storing text, first appeared in 1978. It was developed independently by the Olivetti Company in Italy and the Casio Company in Japan.