The Invention of the Typewriter: A Transformative Communication Device

Who invented the first typewriter?

Was it:

a. The first patented writing machine made in England in 1714

b. The invention of Malling Hansen in 1870

c. Christopher Sholes in 1867

d. None of the above

Answer:

The first typewriter was invented by Christopher Sholes in 1867, which greatly improved the speed and neatness of writing and opened up clerical job opportunities for women.

The invention of the first typewriter can be traced back to the innovation of Christopher Sholes, a newspaper publisher from Wisconsin. In 1867, Sholes perfected the typewriter, a transformative device for communication that also featured the standard QWERTY keyboard. This machine not only enabled a faster and neater way to write but also played a significant role in creating new job opportunities for women in offices as clerical staff.

Before the typewriter, the creation of books and documents was an arduous process, with scribes taking up to a year to copy a single book by hand. The invention of movable type by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century started to change this, but it was the advent of the typewriter that significantly accelerated word processing. Further advancements in automated typesetting, such as Ottmar Mergenthaler's Linotype machine and Tolbert Lanston's Monotype casting system, followed the typewriter, drastically improving the efficiency and speed of typesetting in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.