Just who exactly invented the Arabic typewriter? In late-nineteenth century Egypt, two different men claimed the title of sole inventor of the Arabic typewriter. Their rival claims were passed down through their respective families, prompting impassioned debate in a series of Al Ahram articles published in 1939. But both Egyptian Philippe Waked and Syrian Selim Haddad have a justifiable claim to the title of inventor, according to this Kerning Cultures podcast (listen, runtime: 29:45).

The men may have worked in parallel to improve a clumsy prototype: A recent investigation by AUC Technology Transfer Office Director Ahmed El Leithy reveals that both men, working in different fields in Egypt during a time of great innovation, are likely to have seen a clumsy prototype of the Arabic typewriter shown during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, before each working independently to develop a better model. Haddad filed the first patent for the Arabic typewriter, but Waked had in fact produced the first typed letter in Arabic three months earlier. Each man played a key role in proving the commercial viability of the Arabic typewriter, the podcast argues, and perhaps it’s time to consign their rivalry to the annals of history, and simply celebrate their achievement.