I've always wanted to learn the piano, an acoustic instrument invented in Italy.
Yea the piano looks really hard to play. Are there different types?
Well there is the electric piano. It is not to be confused with the keyboard, because it actually has metal strings.
How many keys are on a typical piano?
There are usually 88 keys which are pressed down to cause hammers to strike strings.
That is a lot. Would you happen to know when the piano was invented?
Piano
The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700 (the exact year is uncertain), in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. 
The word piano is a shortened form of "pianoforte", the Italian term for the early 1700s versions
Electric piano
An electric piano is an electric musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of the piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations which are converted into electrical signals by magnetic pickups, which are then connected to an instrument amplifier and loudspeaker to make a sound loud enough for the performer and audience to hear. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument. Instead, it is an electro