Photo credit: The Museum of Business History and Technology
Tuesday, October 18 — One of the foundations of modern business and science — the accessibility of accurate calculations — was reinforced this month in 1887. That’s when a patent was granted to Dorr Eugene Felt for the first adding machine known to be absolutely accurate at all times. Felt called his machine the “comptometer,” and some models were still in use a half-century later. The comptometer had the mechanical calculator market to itself until 1902. Adding machines — soon joined by punch cards — remained the core of numbers management for more than 60 years until replaced by calculators and computers. Sales of such items as adding machines and calculators is the pursuit of the 81,000 workers in America’s 6,800 office supply stores.
You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online.
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