In 1436, a German goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg created the thing that would change the world forever — the print machine. Surprisingly, he did it despite the fact that he was not quick to mechanize the printing process. Not many people know this but woodblock imprinting was created in China long before Gutenberg was even alive. In fact, it can be traced back to the ninth century. However, Johannes Gutenberg’s machine further developed their model of print machine and introduced it to the West.
The printing press timeline
By 1500, Gutenberg presses were working all through Western Europe, creating 20 million materials, from single pages to handouts and books.
By 1605, the first newspaper, “Relations,” was printed and appropriated in Strasbourg. From there, newspapers spread across Europe and authoritatively settled the print machine’s contribution to further developing information technology and education. This new industry’s quick spread profited with German laborers who helped Gutenberg in early printing tests and in promoting the new technology in other countries. The first one was Italy, which got Gutenberg’s innovative machine in 1465. Italian printers started to effectively trade in printed matter by 1470.
The printing press goes on a Eurotrip
In 1470, the German printers were invited to set up a print machine at the Sorbonne University in Paris, where the administrator picked the books to be printed for the understudies, primarily course readings. By 1476, the German printers and printing machines were circulating Paris and settling in privately owned businesses.
Spain invited German printers to Valencia in 1473. In 1475, it expanded to Barcelona. By 1495, Portugal welcomed printers to Lisbon.
William Caxton brought Gutenberg’s development to England in 1476. Caxton was an Englishman who had lived in Belgium for a long time. Caxton traveled to Cologne to examine printing in 1471 in order to set up a distribution house in Bruges.
The historical impact of the print machine is depicted by Mark Twain as: “No matter how fortunate or unfortunate today’s reality is, it is credited to Gutenberg.”