QWERTY
 From dictionary.com:
qwerty adj. Of, relating to, or designating the traditional configuration of typewriter or computer keyboard keys. [From the first six letters at the upper left.] Pertaining to a standard English-language typewriter keyboard (sometimes called the Sholes keyboard after its inventor), as opposed to Dvorak or foreign-language layouts (e.g. "keyboard AZERTY" in french-speaking countries) or a space-cadet keyboard or APL keyboard.
Historical note: The QWERTY layout is a fine example of a fossil. It is sometimes said that it was designed to slow down the typist, but this is wrong; it was designed to allow *faster* typing - under a constraint now long obsolete. In early typewriters, fast typing using nearby type-bars jammed the mechanism. So Sholes fiddled the layout to separate the letters of many common digraphs (he did a far from perfect job, though; "th", "tr", "ed", and "er", for example, each use two nearby keys). Also, putting the letters of "typewriter" on one line allowed it to be typed with particular speed and accuracy for demos. The jamming problem was essentially solved soon afterward by a suitable use of springs, but the keyboard layout lives on.
Jargon File: The on-line hacker Jargon File maintained by Eric S. Raymond. A large collection of definitions of computing terms, including much wit, wisdom, and history.
The QWERTY keyboard has also spawned some unhelpful economic myths about how technical standards get and stay established; see reasononline.com.
Check out the book Quirky Qwerty by Torbjorn Lundmark.
*Qwerty is an acceptable Scrabble word.
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