WHY ARE KEYBOARDS QWERTY?

There's a reason why this seemingly random arrangement of letters is widely used on keyboard layouts

- WORDS SCOTT DUTFIELD

If you've ever wondered why the letters on your keyboard are in the order that they are, you can thank American inventor Christopher Latham Sholes. In 1868, Sholes patented the first commercially sold typewriter. As a newfangled way to write, the letters on Sholes' typewriter were laid out to assist telegraph operators transcribing Morse code, specifically American Morse code. Over the years, Sholes edited the arrangement of the letters in each row until, in 1874, wi