The first workable adding machine was invented by William Seward Burroughs in 1885. The machines sold for a price of $475 a piece. Sales started slow for Burroughs’ company; however, business picked up after the turn of the century with total sales jumping from 284 machines in 1895 to 7,804 just a decade later. The original adding machines could only add; all subtraction was still done by hand. |
