Keyboards

Keyboards

Author: History Hit March 5, 2023 Duration: 37:48

The keyboard on the first ever commercially successful typewriter and the keyboard on your smartphone are separated by a gulf of time and technology. Yet their layout is essentially the same (plus or minus a few new buttons along the way).


Who invented the QWERTY keyboard layout and why hasn’t it been updated?


What is the Shift button all about?


Who else remembers the weird way it felt to type on the ZX Spectrum?


To tell the stories that lurk underneath the keyboards you use every day, Dallas is joined by Marcin Wichary. His book ‘Shift Happens’ is available via Kickstarter now: bit.ly/3ETOn8c


Produced by Sophie Gee, Edited by Freddy Chick, Senior Editor is Charlotte Long.


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Dallas Campbell guides you through the fascinating and often overlooked backstories of the objects and ideas that shaped our world in Patented: History of Inventions. This isn't just a dry recounting of dates and blueprints; it's a deep dive into the human drama behind innovation. You'll hear about accidental breakthroughs, the forgotten figures whose contributions were sidelined, and the clever-sometimes dubious-marketing that turned an idea into a household name. From questioning the true legacy of figures like Thomas Edison to uncovering the surprising connection between foundational garments and space exploration, each episode unpacks these narratives with a sense of curiosity and wit. Produced by History Hit, the podcast brings in historians, scientists, and specialists to add depth and context, transforming every tale into a compelling detective story. Tune in for a consistently engaging exploration that reveals how luck, persistence, and sheer human ingenuity collide to create the fabric of modern life. The result is a listening experience that changes the way you look at the ordinary world around you, one remarkable story at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Patented: History of Inventions
Podcast Episodes
Emojis 😊💩🍆 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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The hieroglyphs seem to hold a lot of secrets about Ancient Egyptians. What do emojis say about us? What on earth is their story?Emojis originate in the notebooks of 1970’s Japanese schoolgirls obsessed with adding cute…
Chickens [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Why did the chicken cross the road? What came first, the chicken or the egg? Who invented the chicken anyway?We answer at least one of these questions on today’s show.We follow the chicken from the time of the dinosaurs…
LEGO [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Who invented LEGO, the world's favourite toy? To find out we have to head to a Danish fishing village where a family of toy makers live. A family who over the course of three generations, created the LEGO world we know t…
Croissants [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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CROISSANTS WEREN’T INVENTED IN FRANCE. Mon dieu! C’est pas vrai!Today Dallas finds out about the person responsible for bringing the croissant to France.It wasn’t Marie Antoinette and it has nothing to do with the Turkis…
Aliens [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Who invented aliens? We did. Each age invents its own. When we invented robots, aliens became robotic beings. In the Cold War, intergalactic peacemakers appear. Aliens came to abduct us in a decade when the news was full…
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Duration: 37:30
The world’s first Loop-the-Loop roller coaster gave so many people whiplash that they kept a medical team on the payroll.Find out where roller coasters began; why your hands sweat when you’re on them; and how long it tak…
Frozen Food [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:15
The Frozen Food industry was invented by the Birdseye company. And that company was started by a living breathing Birdseye; Clarence Birdseye.Clarence Birdseye was a small, bespectacled New Yorker who lived a life somewh…
Warhammer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:53
***Real life inventor alert*** We speak to Rick Priestley the co-creator of the weird world of Warhammer where valiant humans, noble elves, savage orcs and a variety of monstrous creatures battle eternally. How on earth…
Batteries [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:54
Hold onto your fishing rods guys. We’re tracking down the origins of batteries and it turns out it has a lot to do with a fish with a nasty sting in its tail. Zzzaaap!!Human’s have known that an electrical force existed…
Canned Food [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:07
Hope you’re hungry because today we’re opening a can of historical worms as we discover the origins of canned food. How did canned food go from something only explorers would consider eating to the centrepiece of kitchen…