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Table of Contents
Pellegrino Turri was an Italian inventor who is credited with creating the first typewriter in the early 19th century. Along with this invention, he came up with carbon paper, which is used as the ink for the typing machine.
See the fact file below for more information on Pellegrino Turri or alternatively, you can download our 22 page Pellegrino Turri worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
Background
- Pellegrino Turri was a skilled mechanic from Italy.
- He is known to have built the first working model of a typing machine, commonly known as a typewriter.
- He also invented carbon paper, which served as the machine’s ink.
Reason of Invention
- In the early 19th century, Pellegrino Turri produced the mechanical typing machine for Countess Carolina Fantoni da Fivizzano, who was blind.
- The countess was a close friend of Pellegrino. Some sources say she was his lover.
- Being blind, the countess was unable to write letters in private. Turri, wanting to help her, created a mechanical solution.
- Some letters she wrote still exist today. Written in the year 1808, they are considered to be the oldest surviving examples of typewritten text.
Conflicting Accounts
- Various accounts suggest that the year of invention was 1801, 1808 or 1809.
- Other versions suggest that the countess’s brother, Agostino Fantoni da Fivizzano, invented the first typing machine, which was only improved upon by Turri.
History of the Typewriter
- Although Turri invented the first working typewriter, he wasn’t the first one to think of it.
- English inventor Henry Mill patented the first typewriter in 1714.
- The commercialization of the typewriter began when Danish pastor Rasmus Malling-Hansen invented the “writing ball” in 1870.
- William Austin Burt invented and patented the “typographer”, the predecessor of the modern typewriter, in America in 1829.
- In 1867, Christopher Latham Sholes invented the QWERTY keyboard and was also one of the inventors of the first typewriter in America.
- It wasn’t until the 1880s when the typewriter established its place in the market. Industrialization made employees rely on this technology for efficient correspondence and record keeping.
- The look of the typewriter changed over time, depending on the economic and social settings of the current period.
- In the 1930s, the electric typewriter was invented.
- The usual aesthetic of the typewriter was a black painted machine.
- Starting in the 1950s, the typewriter was cased in colored steel, making them look more elegant.
Commercial Typewriters
- The Sholes & Glidden Type Writer launched on the American market in 1874 and was the first commercially successful typewriter.
- The Remington Typewriter was the successful model of the modern typewriter.
- The Caligraph was the second typewriter to hit the American market.
- The Royal Typewriter Company manufactured typewriters from 1906 until the 1970s.
- Other well-known and well-received brands of typewriters were the Olympia and Smith-Corona typewriters.
Related Works
- In 2010, Carey Wallace wrote The Blind Contessa’s New Machine, a novel based on the relationship of Pellegrino Turri and Countess Carolina.
- Typewriter collector Alan Seaver created Machines of Loving Grace, a website of different kinds and images of typewriters over the years.
Pellegrino Turri Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about inventor Pellegrino Turri across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Pellegrino Turri worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Pellegrino Turri who was an Italian inventor who is credited with creating the first typewriter in the early 19th century.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Pellegrino Turri Facts
- All About Pellegrino
- History of the Typing Machine
- Based on a True Story
- Model Sketches
- Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
- Lie Detective
- Search and Signify
- Dear Mr. Turri
- Machines of Loving Grace
- TV Commercial Time
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Link will appear as Pellegrino Turri Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, April 19, 2018
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.