22. Oliver

The American Methodist preacher Thomas Oliver also wanted to produce a typewriter with visible script. As the son of a Scottish immigrant, he built a steam engine out of his mother’s tea kettle when he was just a child. His various inventions also include a cotton picking machine. In 1888 he finally built a typewriter which was distinguished by its robustness and which was very successful in Europe. The Austrian author Franz Kafka was amongst its users.