Where did Helvetica come from?

Helvetica is a typeface that was originally created by Max Miedinger at the Haas Type Foundry in 1957. The typeface was meant to be a competitor for Akzidenz-Grotesk, another sans-serif typeface that was popular at the time. Helvetica's original name was "Neue Haas Grotesk," but was changed, after a rise in popularity, in 1960 in an effort to make it more internationally appealing. Helvetica is one of the most widely used sans-serif typefaces in the world, born when clarity of communication was becoming more important than unnecessary ornamental decoration. It's forms are characterized by a balance of positive and negative space and exemplify the ideals of the time in which it was created by being clear and easy to read at almost all weights and sizes.