Things That Changed the Course of History: The Story of the Invention of the Typewriter 150 Years Later

Maybe you've never used a typewriter yourself, but you've probably seen a movie set sometime in the 20th century that features a room full of them. Perhaps you've heard the distinctive clickety-clack of the machine, the loud ping when the typists get to the end of the line, and the gentle swoosh as the typists start all over again.

For those of us who grew up with computers, typewriters have an undeniable fascination, but let's stop trying to think of the typewriter as something that is vin...