1946

William Seward Burroughs

The patent for the adding machine was received by its inventor, William S. 
Burroughs, on this day in 1888. By 1887, Burroughs had manufactured 
50 machines. The straight adding and listing machine Burroughs had 
invented was the company’s only product; its purchase price, $475. In 
1890 first machines were demonstrated in banks in New York and St.
Lewis with some orders being accepted. The first large scale production
was undertaken in 1892. In 1895, sales had climbed to 284 machines.  

1915 ad

Xerox 914

The Xerox 914, invented by Chester Carlson (below), was the first successful  
commercial plain paper copier. It was first introduced to the public on September
16, 1959 and revolutionized the document-copying industry. The original machine
was presented to the Smithsonian Institute’s Museum of American History.

Physicist and Inventor Chester Floyd Carlson was born
in Seattle, Washington in 1906