EVERYBODY IS TO PUT THE CAPS LOCK ON BEFORE TYPING ON INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY, A DAY THOUGHT UP BY DEREK ARNOLD OF IOWA IN 2000.

HE STARTED THE DAY AS A PARODY, TO TAKE A JAB AT THOSE WHO WRITE IN CAPS WHEN IT IS NOT NECESSARY. WRITING IN ALL CAPS IS OFTEN USED TO INDICATE THAT THE PERSON TYPING IS SHOUTING, AND ITS USE IS OFTEN SEEN AS BEING RUDE OR ANNOYING.

BEING THAT CAPS LETTERS ARE ALL THE SAME HEIGHT, THEY ARE HARDER TO READ THAN LOWER CASE LETTERS.

THIS GIVES ONE INDICATION OF WHY THEY MAY BE SEEN AS BEING ANNOYING. THE DAY WAS ORIGINALLY JUST CELEBRATED ON OCTOBER 22, BUT AFTER “INFOMERCIAL KING” BILLY MAYS PASSED AWAY ON JUNE 28 IN 2009, THE DAY BEGAN BEING CELEBRATED ON THAT DATE AS WELL.

THIS IS BECAUSE THE CAPS LOCK KEY STARTED BEING CALLED THE BILLY MAYS KEY BECAUSE BILLY MAYS SEEMED LIKE HE WAS ALWAYS YELLING WHEN HE TALKED ABOUT A PRODUCT.

Consoles HAVE NOT ALWAYS HAD A CAPS LOCK KEY. UPPER AND LOWER CASE LETTERS WERE ADDED TO THE REMINGTON NO.2 TYPEWRITER IN 1878.

A SHIFT KEY WAS ALSO ADDED, WHICH HAD TO BE PRESSED DOWN TO SWITCH BETWEEN THE CASES. THE SHIFT LOCK, INTRODUCED IN 1914 ON THE REMINGTON JUNIOR TYPEWRITER, MADE IT EASIER TO TYPE MULTIPLE CAPITAL LETTERS AT A TIME. THE FIRST COMPUTER WITH A CAPS LOCK KEY WAS THE XEROX ALTO, RELEASED IN 1973.

IBM INTRODUCED THE MODEL M KEYBOARD IN 1984; IT STANDARDIZED MANY KEYS, INCLUDING THE CAPS LOCK KEY. MOST KEYBOARDS STILL USE THIS LAYOUT, AND ALMOST ALL KEYBOARDS HAVE CAPS LOCK KEYS.

How to Observe

CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY BY PUTTING THE CAPS LOCK ON AND LEAVING IT ON ALL DAY. SEND TEXT MESSAGES AND EMAILS IN ALL CAPS.

IF YOU HAVE MORE IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS YOU NEED TO WRITE TODAY, YOU’LL JUST HAVE TO TYPE THEM IN ALL CAPS AS WELL. BESIDES ANNOYING MANY PEOPLE, YOU MAY RUN INTO OTHER PROBLEMS AS WELL.

FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU HAVE PASSWORDS IN WHICH LETTERS ARE NOT ALL CAPITALIZED, YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO LOG INTO SOME OF YOUR ACCOUNTS.

THIS IS A SACRIFICE YOU HAVE TO MAKE ON INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY. DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT TAKING OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.