The Photocopy Pioneer
The next time you make a photocopy, be sure to give thanks to Chester Carlson. He invented the first commercial photocopier, the Xerox 914. His invention was introduced to the public on September 16, 1959, in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel in New York. Its debut was far from perfect, however, with one of the two models catching fire. Despite this mishap, it stunned audiences with its ability to make 100,000 photocopies per month, or one every 26.4 seconds. Carlson invented a copying process called xerography as early as 1937. This process is based on the natural phenomena whereby materials of opposite electrical charges attract and some materials become better conductors of electricity when exposed to light. Carlson’s invention created copies faster than a mimeograph machine and more cheaply than a photograph. After IBM turned
Carlson down, he found support from the Haloid Company, which changed its name to the Xerox Corporation in 1961.