The Sholes and Glidden Typewriter Is Patented

Setting the scene

Journalist Christopher Latham Sholes, attorney Carlos Glidden, and mechanic Samuel W. Soule collaborated in Milwaukee to mechanize printing so authors could see text as they typed. Their early models arranged keys in a QWERTY layout partly to reduce jamming on mechanical arms.

What happened

The Sholes and Glidden typewriter received U.S. Patent 207,559 on June 23, 1873, and E. Remington & Sons, famous for firearms, manufactured and marketed the machine to businesses and authors. The uppercase-only early version lacked a shift key; later Remington models added lowercase.

Why it still matters

Typewriters standardized office correspondence, newsroom deadlines, and secretarial work for a century before personal computers displaced them. Memorable detail: Mark Twain claimed his 1874 Remington was the first book manuscript submitted in typewritten form, though historians debate whether he was truly first.

Background

Remington marketed it to offices and authors.