In 1999, an online discussion forum called MetaFilter launched. In October 2000, a user named Derek Arnold declared a holiday: one day a year, everyone types in all caps. His official reasoning was a straight-faced argument that most of the world writes in scripts with no uppercase or lowercase at all. The joke stuck.
The key it celebrates goes back even further, to the shift lock on mechanical typewriters. People have accidentally smashed it ever since.
HOW CAPS LOCK IS LOCKED INTO KEYBOARDS
On a typebar typewriter, each key moves a typebar, a metal arm with a typeslug on the end. The typeslug holds two characters stacked one above the other, usually the lowercase letter on the bottom and the capital on top.
A regular shift key has a spring that snaps it back as soon as you lift your finger, making it hard to hold down for more than a few keystrokes. The shift lock key solves that with a simple latch. When you press it, a metal hook or notch under the key catches a frame inside the typewriter body and holds the carriage or type basket in the shifted position, so the capitals stay lined up with the paper. To switch it off, tap the normal shift key. That usually trips the latch, letting a spring pull the carriage or segment back to its resting position, ready for lowercase.
Typewriters needed a latch to hold the capitals in place. You just need a holiday. Whatever case you type in on October 22, our internet will get it there.
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