Giuseppe Ravizza Giuseppe Ravizza Giuseppe Ravizza, a prolific typewriter inventor, was born in Novara, Italy in 1811 (died 1885), and spent nearly 40 years of his life obsessively grappling with the complexities of inventing a usable writing machine. He called his invention "" because of its piano-type keys and keyboard. The story of the 16 models he produced between 1847 and the early 1880s is described in "The Writing Machine" and illustrated from Ravizza’s 1855 patent, which bears similarities to the later upstroke design of the Sholes and Glidden typewriter. In 1868, the American Christopher Latham Sholes (1819-1890) patented, on behalf of
Latham of Bradwall of Surgeons (MRCS), and in 1839 joined the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries (LSA). On 3 November 1867, Latham delivered triplets to the wife of a brass dealer, which was reported in The Lancet. He died on 6 July 1907, a noted cricket fan. A public memorial statue to him is located outside the Ashfield Primary Care Centre in Sandbach (see photo below). He was affectionately known as "old Dr Latham". Charles was the third son of Richard and Sarah Latham, and the nephew of John Latham (1761–1843). He went to Manchester Hospital, where he was apprenticed for 5 years to