Soukie's Place

Of Keyboards and Men
The Inventors

By Pavel Soukenik · May 15, 2010 · Filed under history and tagged: Dvorak, keyboard, layout, QWERTY, Sholes, typing

One thing that children do very well is asking questions. “What is this?” “What is that?” The most difficult and important questions start with ‘Why.’ “Why are the letters on the keyboard arranged like this?”

Glad you asked. There are many detailed accounts of the history of the typewriter and its keyboard layout, and at least as many myths. The typewriter that became wildly used was invented by Christopher Latham Sholes in 1867.

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