:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::

:: 2.03.2007 ::

:: Feb. 3, 1468 ::

Gutenberg Dies
By Tony Long
From Wired News

1468: Johannes Gutenberg dies in Mainz, Germany, where he was born sometime around 1400 (actual birth date unknown). Gutenberg, a goldsmith by trade, made one contribution to technology in particular and to civilization in general, but it was a doozy: the printing press, which made the mass production of printed material possible and revolutionized human communication.

Although movable type existed in China as early as the 11th century, Gutenberg's printing press began a chain of events that altered the social and scientific history of Europe.

His press, featuring movable letters made of either wood or metal, was inspired by the screw-type wine presses then common in the fertile Rhine Valley. He essentially mechanized the craft of woodblock printing, a painstaking, time-consuming process. His technology continued evolving over the centuries, and with these refinements Gutenberg's invention has remained the cornerstone of printing to this day.

Gutenberg began using his printing press in 1450 after returning to Mainz, and in 1455 he produced what has come down to us as the Gutenberg Bible, a beautifully executed folio that would have taken a talented monk months, if not years, to complete by hand. Copies of this bible sold for 30 florins, an enormous sum of money at the time.

At least 59 copies are known to still exist, including one at the Library of Congress and two at the British Museum.
(Source: About.com, Gutenberg.de)

posted by me

:: 4:17:00 PM [+] ::
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