Historical Figures
Johannes Gutenberg
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Johannes Gutenberg was a German inventor and craftsman credited with introducing movable-type printing to Europe. His innovations, including a practical means of mass-producing durable metal type, an oil-based printing ink and an adjustable hand mold for casting type, allowed books to be produced far faster and more cheaply than by hand copying. His masterwork, the Gutenberg Bible, completed around 1455, is regarded as a landmark of printing craftsmanship. Gutenberg's press touched off a rapid spread of printing across Europe that historians credit with accelerating the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation and the broader growth of literacy.
Facts
Death YearWikipedia gives his age at death as 61 to 75, reflecting the uncertainty in his birth year. Cross-Tradition Connections
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1. Wikipedia: Johannes Gutenberg
WikipediaLead sectionQuote, Lead section
Gutenberg is the inventor of movable-type printing in Europe...his newspaper- and book-printing began the Printing Revolution and is widely regarded as the most important event of the modern period.
1. Wikipedia: Johannes Gutenberg
WikipediaInfobox (death)Quote, Infobox (death)
1468 (aged 61-75)
1. Wikipedia: Johannes Gutenberg
WikipediaParticipant In: The Printing Revolution, Lead section, information revolutionQuote, Participant In: The Printing Revolution, Lead section, information revolution
The printing press later spread across the world, and led to an information revolution and the unprecedented mass-spread of literature throughout Europe.
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