It’s gone by many names, (the pound sign, the number sign, the octothorpe and the hashtag symbol) and it’s had many meanings, but what is the origin of this # mysterious symbol?

The # sign has become something of a cultural phenomenon. The origin of the first # (pound) sign isn't entirely clear, but linguists think it came about because it was easier to write than L-B.

Chris Messina, the former Google designer who first proposed that Twitter adopt the hashtag — or "pound" symbol, as it was called at the time — has explained on Quora why he never bothered to ...