It is known as printing was invented by China, but if you know who invented the first printing press with reusable type in Europe? From “Inventions That Changed the World”, wrote by David Maule, the answer is Johannes Gutenberg (1398-1468), a German, who lived at fifteenth century. He knew about metal from his father at his early age, and he was later trained to work gold jewelry. He used metal to make his reusable type. He had to try many of these before he found the best. He also used earlier inventions. His printing press was similar to the heavy presses that were used for marking wine. In 1454, Gutenberg began to print a new Bible- the “42-line Bible”. He made around 180 copies. Some were printed on animal skin, but more are on paper. However, some details and the large capital letters were added by hand. Gutenberg himself made nothing out of his great invention. He had borrowed money to start his business and finally give his press, his tools, and his materials to his debtor for unable to repay on time. Gutenberg died as a poor and forgotten man in 1468, and his debtor continued his work. After Gutenberg’s printing press, the invention of printing spread quickly through Western Europe, and at last to whole world. Now, the printing developed to computerized printing, and a desk-top machine that delivers good quality pages at high speed. The work of Gutenberg and his followers is now done inside a computer.
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