Xerography Turns 75 on Tuesday

Written in a bold hand on a glass slide was the date and location: 10-22-38 Astoria. The copy might have been fuzzy, but it was still a copy. In fact, it was the world’s first xerographic copy.

Tuesday marks the 75th anniversary of that first xerographic image, created by Chester Carlson in a rented second story room in Queens, N.Y. This humble invention would eventually lead to the formation of the Xerox Corp. and the birth of an industry. Even today, this xerographic process is still at the heart of most office printers and copiers around the world.

Trained as a physicist and lawyer, Carlson was a serial inventor. He kept notebooks full of a wide array of inventions including a rotating billboard, raincoat with gutters and a shoe cleaning machine.

In honor of his inquisitive nature and his remarkable invention, which truly changed how business has been conducted for decades, Xerox is kicking off a celebration of innovation and its role in the company’s history and future. Read more about Xerox's plans here. (And learn more about Carlson and his invention from this IPG story about him.)