Johannes Gutenberg

Johannes Gutenberg

   Johannes Gutenberg was born around the 1398.  His date of birth is not precisely known.

  He was born in Germany in the city of Mainz. In 1411 he was forced to leave Mainz. 

Gutenberg in 1439 was the first European to use the printing press and movable type in Europe. Among his many contributions to printing are: the invention of a process for mass-producing movable type; the use of oil-based ink for printing books; adjustable molds; mechanical movable type; and the use of a wooden printing press similar to the agricultural screw presses of the period.

Legend has it that the idea came to him like a flash of light. In 1450, the printing press was working. One of the first books he printed was the Bible. People called it the Gutenberg Bible. 

He made 200 hundred copies.  42 copies are known to survive. Johannes Gutenberg died February 3, 1469 age 70.