The "@" appeared a few hundred years ago, in medieval monasteries

familiar to all users of the Internet "@" symbol appeared several hundred years ago, in medieval monasteries. It was used to refer to the Latin preposition «ad» (in modern English - «at»), although some researchers have argued that the "dog" came up with the Italian monks.

Whatever it was, this innovation was soon adopted dealers: one of the first to use the symbol outside the monastery, was a Florentine merchant Francesco Lapi, in one of his letters labeled "dog" amphora - a standard in those days, a measure of volume, approximately equal to 26 ti l.

Gradually the sign began to acquire other values, for example, Portuguese, French and Spanish to the "@" symbol is usually cut old Spanish measure of weight under the name «arroba», equal to 11 502 kg. Symbol, like "dog", the researchers found in the Russian books of XVI-XVII centuries, including - of Law of Ivan the Terrible, dating from 1550, the year, and to the XIX-th century mark is already widespread as a designation unit price. < br />


In 1963 there was a coding standard ASCII, including 95-year-printed signs that attended and "dog", and in 1973 members of the organization «Internet Engineering Taskforce» consolidated the use of the mark in the division name and domain - this idea in 1971 th year advanced programmer Ray Tomlinson. Mass "dog" was in 1996, when there was service «Hotmail».

By the way, "dog" is called a symbol of the Russian and Ukrainian, in other languages ​​of the mark is known by others, sometimes quite unusual names. Italians say «chiocciola» («snail»), in Greece he was known as «παπακι» - «duck" in the Czech Republic and Slovakia - «zavináč» («roll herring"), Taiwan use the term «小 老鼠» ( pronounced as "xiao lao shu") - "mouse", Israel extended the name «שטרודל» - «strudel" and Kazakhstan sign called "ayқұlaқ" - "the ear of the Moon».

via factroom.ru