I would like to start playing the piano but I feel I do not know much about it.
Oh its an accoustic musical instrument that is stringed and the hammers strike the strings
So thats what is going on inside those pianos. How long have pianos been around?
Its believed to have been around since around 1700 in Italy
That is incredible. Are they still fairly popular today?
Yes they are and the first pianos were actually smaller and quieter
Oh really. That is something I never knew about pianos. Are there different types now?
Yeah there are, an acoustic piano has a wooden box around it
Very cool. I may have to look into lessons now.
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 grand piano
The electric grand piano is a stringed musical instrument played using a keyboard, in which the vibration of strings struck by hammers is converted by pickups into electrical signals, analogous to the electric guitar's electrification of the traditional guitar.
Since electric amplification eliminates the need for a resonant chamber, electric grand pianos are smaller and lighter (around ), and consequently more portable, than acoustic pianos. Electric amplification also bypasses the difficulty of having to mic a conventional grand piano, and thus makes an electric grand