The QWERTY keyboard, the most widely used keyboard layout in the world, was developed in the 1870s by Christopher Latham Sholes, the inventor of the modern typewriter. Originally, early typewriters had keys arranged alphabetically, but this design led to frequent jams when users typed quickly. To solve this problem, Sholes and his team rearranged the keys to slow down typing and reduce jamming, placing commonly used letters farther apart. This new layout was named "QWERTY" after the first six letters on the top row of the keyboard.

Despite the introduction of more efficient keyboard layouts in the years since, such as the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard, QWERTY remains the standard. Its dominance was solidified as it became the default layout for early computers, leading to widespread adoption. The QWERTY keyboard's staying power is a testament to how initial technological solutions can become deeply ingrained in daily life, even long after the original problems they addressed have been solved.