Chess Notation Questions

Hi all,

I have a couple of questions regarding the algebraic notation.

First, I think I learned, a long time ago, that a checkmate was to be indicated by a not equal sign (i.e. ≠). However, not only is everybody using a pound sign today, but this is also specified explicitely everywhere, in the FIDE laws of chess, on Wikipedia, you name it, whereas I'm hard pressed to find any mention of the not equal sign. I'm just curious - is this pound sign a recent thing, invented in order to make it easier to type on a personal computer keyboard? Or has it always been like this, and the not equal sign was only in my imagination?

Second, is there a way to indicate that after a certain move the game was drawn? There is (=) for indicating a draw offer, but how about situations when a particular move has caused a sudden and indisputable end of the game in a draw? Say, when it has caused a stalemate, or when the last remaining piece/pawn has been captured and only two kings remain on the board. I seem to remember that an equal sign (alone, without the brackets) was used, but since I can't find this mentioned absolutely anywhere, I guess I might have dreamt about it.

Thank you.