printinghistory.org

Bg6or TIL the earliest recorded known use of the arrow symbol (“→”) was in 1737
e0Da4 TIL the arrow symbol (→) is a rather recent invention. The first arrow symbols were used sporadically in the 18th century and arrow symbols only became widely used in the late 19th century. Pointing hand symbols (☞) were used for centuries before the arrow symbol was invented.