America 250: From quill pens to AI, how the US records its history

For more than two and a half centuries, America’s story has been recorded on paper.

In 1776, quill and ink were used to tell that story. Typewriters would not enter the federal government until more than a century later.

In 1880, the Executive Mansion now known as the White House got its first typewriter.

The Fairbanks and Company Improved Number Two typewriter was considered so revolutionary that it shared a room with the telephone and telegraph, along with its own operator.