The invention, without which it is difficult today to imagine the general literacy of the population, is a printing press. Undoubtedly, this machine has changed the world for the better. But when did she appear in our daily routine and what is her story?
Today, the scientific world is of the opinion that the first printing press was built by German businessman Johann Guttenberg. However, there are reliable facts that similar devices were used by people much earlier. Even the inhabitants of ancient Babylon put stamps on clay with paint and a stamp. In the first century AD, fabrics decorated with patterns were common in Asia and Europe. In ancient times, stamps were placed on papyrus, and the Chinese had paper on which they printed prayers with wooden patterns in the second century AD.
In Europe, the release of books was the lot of monasteries. At first they corresponded manually by the monks. Then they made a page template and printed it, but such a process was long, and a new model was needed for a new book.
Almost immediately, carved boards were replaced with metal letters, which applied oil-based ink using a press. It is believed that the technique of loose print was first used by Guttenberg (1436). It is his signature that adorns the most ancient printing press. However, the French and the Dutch dispute this fact, claiming that it was their compatriots who invented such an important machine.
So, when asked about who invented the printing press, most of our contemporaries will answer that it was Johann Guttenberg. He was born in Mainz in a family from an old noble family of the Gonzflaysha. It is not known for certain why he left his hometown, went in for craft, and took the name of his mother. However, in Strasbourg, he made the main invention of the century.
Machine tool
How his printing press works, Guttenberg hid. However, today it can be argued that at first it was wooden. There is news that his first font existed in the sixteenth century. Each letter had a hole in which a rope was passed connecting the typed lines. But wood is not good enough material for such a thing. The letters swell or dry over time, making the printed text jagged. Therefore, Guttenberg began to cut the stamp from lead or tin, and then cast the letters - it turned out much easier and faster. The printing press has actually acquired its modern look.
The book printing machine worked like this: originally letters were made in mirror form. Hitting them with a hammer, the master received prints on a copper plate. So the required number of letters was made, which were used repeatedly. Then words and lines were added from them. Guttenberg's first products were Donat grammar (thirteen editions) and calendars. Having seized himself, he ventured into a more complex matter: the first printed Bible had 1,286 pages and 3,400,000 characters. The publication was colorful, with pictures, and capital letters were drawn by artists manually.
Guttenberg's case continued. In Russia such a machine appeared in 1563, when, by order of Ivan the Terrible, Fedorov built his car.