c. 1400 – 1468
Johannes Gutenberg
GermanyManufacturingCommunications
Background
A goldsmith and printer in Mainz, in the Holy Roman Empire.
Contribution
Around 1440–1450 combined a metal type-casting method (the adjustable hand mould), oil-based ink, and an adapted screw press into an integrated printing system, producing the Gutenberg Bible and enabling mass printing in Europe.
Popular credit vs. the record
Often called 'the inventor of the printing press'; his key innovation was an integrated, economical European system, not the first movable type.
Associated inventions
Collaborators & contemporaries
Sources & further reading
Each citation names the publisher and the exact reference title.
- Encyclopædia Britannica — technology & biography topic articlesEncyclopædia Britannica · Encyclopedia
- Library of Congress — invention & patent history collectionsU.S. Library of Congress · Government / archive
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