In 1972, Ray Tomlinson sent the first electronic message, now known as e-mail, using the @ symbol to indicate the location of the e-mail recipient. In 1972, Ray Tomlinson sent the first electronic message, now known as email, using the @ symbol to indicate the location or institution of the email recipient. Tomlinson, using a Model 33 Teletype device, understood that he needed to use a symbol that would not appear in anyone’s name so that there was no confusion. The logical choice for Tomlinson was the “at sign,” both because it was unlikely to appear in anyone’s name and also because it represented the word “at,” as in a particular user is sitting @ this specific computer. THE @ KEYBOARD STANDARD Before the symbol became a standard key on typewriter keyboards in the 1880s and a standard on querty keyboards in the 1940s, the @ sign had a long if somewhat sketchy history of use throughout the world. Linguists are divided as to when the symbol first appeared. Some argue that the symbol