It started with typesetters hundreds of years ago who did not follow a convention for spacing after sentences. Some would use one or two or even up to four spaces after ending a sentence! However, in the early 20th century, it became accepted practice to only use one space. It is even specified in the Modern Language Association (MLA) Style Guide, and recommended for publications by the American Psychological Association (APA).

So why do people still use two spaces after ending a sentence? One word: typewriters. In the middle of the 20th century, typewriters invaded the public workspace, as well as schools. People began using two spaces again to make up for the typewriter’s typographic shortcomings, and the practice was even taught for keyboarding courses in public schools.

Now, however, we have a large array of fonts to work with on modern computers, and two spaces are no longer needed to make up for any shortcomings. Now is the time to stick to only one space after periods… please!