Academic Connections:
Social Studies
A History That Still Touches Our Lives

Let Me Try It!: Part A

Directions: Some of the seven historical events below did not happen. You should read each of the stories, paying close attention to the information listed as Who?, What?, When?, and Where? and Overview. Then decide which of the events are true and which ones are not.

A. The First Attempt to Build An English Typewriter

Who? Henry Mill, Engineer

What? The first attempt to develop an artificial machine for writing

When? 1714

Where? England

Overview:

Henry Mill, an engineer, was born long after the printing press was invented. He was impressed with the printing press because it allowed printers to print pages that were neat and easy to read. Mill dreamed of offering that kind of power to everyone. He wanted to create a machine that would allow everyone to print messages that looked just like handwriting.

In 1714 he was given permission by the Queen of England to make his machine. Mill named the invention he wanted to make a Type Writer. He was sure people would pay to have an artificial writing machine. It seemed a great idea, but Mill never built his machine. All he left us was his idea.

Historical Fact or Not?

Did Henry Mill dream of building a Type Writer. Did his dream of an artificial writing machine that would produce messages that looked just like handwriting really not come true? Did Mill only leave us his idea of a Type Writer?

B. An American Typewriter

Who? Alvaro Qwerty, Printer

What? The first successful attempt to create and sell a business typewriter in America

When? 1868 - 1872

Where? New York, New York

Overview:

By the middle 1800s, many people had tried to make a typing machine. One person made a typing machine from wood. Another early typewriter looked like a clock, and another was as large as a refrigerator.

In 1868 Alvaro Qwerty, a printer, came to America from Italy. Alvaro's father had taught him to be a printer. Alvaro tried to become a printer in New York, but he could not speak English. No one would hire him as a printer. Instead, he got a job as a garbage collector. He worked ten hours a day picking up garbage. He often asked to take home some of the machine parts and ribbons that he collected around New York.

Each night after work, Alvaro tried to get his typing machine to work just right. Finally, in 1872, four years after he had arrived in New York wanting to become a printer there, Alvaro made a typing machine that worked well enough to sell to businesses. Alvaro Qwerty, the fifty-second person to try making a typing machine, named his invention the Type-Writer. Proud of his success, he also put his family name on the Type-Writer keyboard. If you look at the first row of keys on your current keyboard, you will see Alvaro's last name still: Q-W-E-R-T-Y.

Historical Fact or Not?

Did Alvaro Qwerty make the first successful typewriter in America?

C. Computer Programs Space Missions

Who? Evelyn Boyd Granville

What? Development of computer programs used for first U.S. mission to space involving humans

Where? Washington, D.C.

When? 1959 - 1969

Overview:

Evelyn Boyd Granville helped develop computer programs used for the Mercury Project, the first U.S. space mission that included humans. She also had a major role in the Apollo Project, which sent U.S. astronauts to the moon. Born in Washington, D.C., Evelyn became one of the first African-American women to work in the U. S. space program.

When she was growing up, Evelyn's family did not have much money. She worked hard in school and won a scholarship to Yale University. She earned a doctoral degree in mathematics there. In 1956 she took a job at IBM. She became part of a team that used computers to put the first human on the moon.

Historical Fact or Not?

Did Evelyn Boyd Granville play a major role in computing and U.S. space exploration?

D. The First Computer Video Game

Who? Steve Russell

What? The invention of the first computer video game

Where? Boston, Massachusetts

When? 1962

Overview:

Steve Russell, a computer programmer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a major university in Boston, wrote the first computer video game. He had a new type of computer that could be used by more than one person at a time. He called his game Spacewar. Two people could play it. They would shoot space torpedoes at each other's spaceship until one person had made the other person's spaceship crash.

You may think that Steve Russell began selling his computer game to children and their parents. Remember the year Steve made his first game: 1962. Computers were still very expensive then, and there were no home computers. Only scientists could work with computers. In 1962, however, Steve Russell gave scientists something to do with their computers besides work: they could also play Spacewar. Soon most research computers in America that were used to protect military secrets and track real space missions also had the game Spacewar on them so that scientists could play.

Historical Fact or Not?

Did Steve Russell invent the first computer game in 1962? Did American research scientists actually put the game on major computers of the day?

E. The First Email

Who? Leonard Kleinrock

What? First successful email message

Where? New York

When? 1964

Overview:

Leonard Kleinrock's parents came to America from the Ukraine in Europe. His family had little money. Leonard had to work during the day and went to college at night. Most people finish college in four years. It took Leonard over five years to finish college. However, we remember Leonard Kleinrock today because he sent the first successful email message. He started a new way of communicating.

After he finished college, Leonard became a computer science professor. One day in 1964, he keyboarded a message that he could send electronically, or through wires, to another computer where a friend of his could open the message and read what Leonard had written. Just as Leonard sent his first message, his computer stopped working. He fixed his computer and tried to send his email message again. This time the message went through. It arrived at his friend's machine. His friend opened the message and read it. Leonard Kleinrock, later called "the Father of the Internet," sent the very first email message.

Historical Fact or Not?

Is this story accurate? Did Leonard Kleinrock really send the first email message in 1964? Did his computer really crash on his first attempt?

F. The Invention of the Mouse

Who? Donna C. Williams

What? Invention of the original mechanical mouse

When? 1975

Where? Palo Alto, California

Overview:

In 1975, Donna C. Williams learned that she had carpal tunnel syndrome, a disease of the hand and arms that comes from repeating the same motion many times. Williams, a musician and writer, had spent 25 years typing nearly four hours a day on her typewriter. She also practiced classical guitar three hours a day. When Williams learned that she had carpal tunnel syndrome, she had recently bought one of the first personal computers, or PCs, to use in her work. She decided that she needed a way to keyboard her ideas on paper, but she also needed to use the keyboard less. She needed a device that could limit her keyboarding strokes.

In 1975, Donna C. Williams invented the first mouse. Her mouse had a wooden shell with two metal wheels. Many people believe Williams named the mouse because it looked like the small gray animal. Once Williams added the chord to plug the wooden shell into her computer, the device seemed to have a tail. Actually, we get the word mouse from the first letters of the five words Williams listed on her patent application, "Machine On Uniform Standard Edges."

Historical Fact or Not?

Did Donna C. Williams invent and name the first M.O.U.S.E., or Machine On Uniform Standard Edges?

G. 60 Years of Research Went Into This Book

Would you believe you can trace your keyboarding textbook back to a shorthand manual? Businesses in the early 1900s wanted people trained in shorthand, a form of notetaking. Most high schools taught shorthand and typing. To make the teaching easier, John Robert Gregg created a shorthand manual that had his name in the title—Gregg Shorthand—and then developed a typing manual to go with the shorthand book.

In 1946 Gregg Publishing issued the first Gregg Typing book. Alan Lloyd wrote the book, which sold many copies and helped thousands of students learn to type. Through the years various companies bought the rights to Gregg Typing. McGraw-Hill Publishing Company bought Gregg Publishing in 1948. Glencoe Publishing joined with McGraw-Hill in the late 1980s.

Every few years Gregg Typing has been updated. When electric typewriters replaced manual typewriters, Gregg Typing taught about electric typewriters and manual ones. As word processing and personal computers began to replace typewriters, the book taught both keyboarding and computer applications. The Gregg name was replaced by the 1990s. By then keyboarding was viewed as a necessary skill for all. The shorthand skill that had been so valuable when typewriters were important was no longer in such demand. The idea that a typing book and shorthand manual were published by the same company no longer seemed important.

Historical Fact or Not?

Does your keyboarding manual really have a 60-year history dating back to a shorthand manual from the early 1900s and a typing manual from 1946? Could you look at the different Gregg and Glencoe typing manuals to learn how, through the years, office technology has changed the way business communicates and the way skills students need for the workplace have changed?

Teach Me!
Let Me Try It!: Part B
Let Me Try It!: Part C
How Did I Do?: Part A