Category: Quirky Maths Facts

The first message sent on the Moscow–Washington hotline on August 30, 1963 was the test phrase “THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOG’S BACK 1234567890”

Typing Tournament Online was the first and to our knowledge the only online typing tutor to work on iOS and Android devices by substituting a custom soft keyboard for the usual system keyboard on these mobile devices.

The greatly revised and enhanced online version of Typing Tournament was first used by trial schools on the Central Coast of NSW in February 2016.

The CD version of Typing Tournament was first published in Australia in 2004 by Erinzan Pty Ltd trading as EdAlive.

In 2005, The Guinness Book of World Records listed Barbara Blackburn as the fastest English language typist in the world. This category has since been deleted. For her record breaking feat, she used a mechanical typewriter that used the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard. She maintained 150 wpm for 50 minutes, and […]

The fastest recorded typing speed using a typewriter was achieved by Stella Pajunas-Garnand, from Chicago, at 216 words per minute, in 1946 using an IBM electric typewriter. In 2005, The Guinness Book of World Records listed Barbara Blackburn as the fastest English language typist in the world. This category has […]

On July 25, 1888, Frank Edward McGurrin, a court stenographer from Salt Lake City Utah USA, won the first typing speed competition, using his 10 finger touch typing method. The prize was $500 which was a very large sum for the day..

On July 25, 1888, Frank Edward McGurrin, a court stenographer from Salt Lake City Utah USA, won the first typing speed competition, using his 10 finger touch typing method. The prize was $500 which was a very large sum for the day.

Most typists using all ten fingers can achieve around 40 Words Per Minute.

Most typists using all ten fingers can achieve around 40 Words Per Minute.

The Guinness World Record for typing a given 103 character text on a keyboard using only the nose is 46.30 seconds.

One possible explanation for the slow adoption of the original typing machines was the way in which the clear text they produced showed up the poor spelling of many writers. They could no longer rely on bad handwriting to hide their bad spelling.

The 10 most common words typed in English are: the, be, to, of, and, a, in, that, have, I.

The most frequently typed letters in English in order of popularity are e, t and a.

The most frequently typed letters in English in order of popularity are e, t and a.

The word “qwertyuiop”, which is the top row of the QWERTY keyboard, was the first word sent by email and now appears in the Oxford English Dictionary. Many people only use nine fingers when typing as they use only one thumb for the space bar.

When typing, the fingers travel approximately 1 mile for every 10,000 words. The word “qwertyuiop”, which is the top row of the QWERTY keyboard, was the first word sent by email and now appears in the Oxford English Dictionary.

“Alaska” is the only US State whose name can be typed on one row of a standard keyboard.

“Alaska” is the only US State whose name can be typed on one row of a standard keyboard.

“Peru” is the only country whose name can be typed on one row of a standard keyboard.

The longest word using only the top row of letters is “rupturewort” – a plant used to treat hernias (11 letters) .

The longest word using only the top row of letters is “rupturewort” – a plant used to treat hernias (11 letters) .

The longest word that alternates hands when typing is “skepticisms” (11 letters).

The longest words to type with the left hand are “stewardesses” and “reverberated” (12 letters).

The longest word to type with the right hand is “polyphony” (9 letters).

Using the QWERTY keyboard, you can type the word ‘typewriter’ using only the top row of keys.

The spacebar is the most typed key on the keyboard being used between each word.

The word’s first typist was Lillian Sholes, using a prototype typewriter invented by her father, Christopher Latham Scholes in 1872.

In the late 1800s a machine was produced for typing text that sold for only $1 and was aptly named the “Dollar Typewriter”. It stamped letters arranged around a wheel a little like an old dymo label printer. It was very slow and awkward to use.

The model M keyboard was produced by IBM and Lexmark in 1984. It is the forerunner of the modern-day computer keyboard. It used the QWERTY layout but introduced separated numeric section, separated arrow keys, and a separate row of function keys.

Author Mark Twain was the first author to submit a typewritten manuscript to his publisher. “Tom Sawyer” was the novel.

Remington & Sons, the company that mass-produced the first typewriter, was best known for making firearms.

The Sholes and Glidden typewriter was produced under licence by Remington and Sons in 1875 and was marketed as the Remington No 1. It could only type in capital letters. It was slow to catch on and was not commercially successful.

The American printers, Sholes and Glidden produced the first workable typing machine in 1873. Its keys were arranged in four rows but not in the QWERTY order.