8th August, 1876
Thomas Edison patents the Mimeograph

The mimeograph machine (commonly abbreviated to mimeo) or stencil duplicator was a printing machine that was far cheaper per copy than any other process in runs of several hundred to several thousand copies. It was not capable of photocopying a document, as a special stencil had to be prepared by hand. Popular until the early 1990s in the preparation of tests and notes for use in classrooms, and especially in science fiction fandom, it has since been largely supplanted in the First World by photocopying and offset printing. However, it remains a working technology in the third world.

The term "Mimeograph" was originally protected as a trademark, however over time the term became generic and is now an example of a genericized trademark.