Gutenberg was not the first to invent the printing press

Johannes Gutenberg is often credited as the inventor of the printing press in 1454. But neither printing nor movable type was actually invented by Johannes Gutenberg, nor did he print the first book. The Chinese actually printed from movable type in 1040, but later discarding the method.

Even before printing books from movable type, the Chinese used wooden blocks to print Budhist writings by hand on scrolls in the 9th Century. While there are no surviving examples of the Chinese printing presses of the 11th Century, the oldest surving printed book on record is the Budhist Diamond-Sutra of 868 AD. Gutenberg was unaware of the Chinese printing methods.

In 1450, Gutenberg went into partnership with the wealthy Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer. In 1454, Gutenberg printed a Turkish calendar and the famous 42-line Bible, of which he printed some 180 copies. The next year he quarrelled with his partners, they won a lawsuit against him, and he lost control of his printing business, causing him financial ruin.

After his financial ruin, little is known of Gutenberg. Near the end of his life, the elector Adolph von Nassau took pity and made him a member of his court. He died in Mainz in 1468.

Although Gutenberg did not invent printing, his experiments made printing more practical. He used sand molds to cast his type and changed the woodcut presses to take printing of type pages. He did invent movable type for the Western world. Gutenberg's method of using type endured almost unchanged for five centuries. Today he is the most famous printer of all time.

::::SOURCE:::: http://www.didyouknow.cd/words/gutenberg.htm

***Interesting Eh Guys?*** I Sure Didn't Know That!!!!

VERDAMNT!!!! Another loss for the Germans.....

HAHAHAHAHHAHA... that is interesting though, cant wait to here your other thoughts on this guys!!!

And Columbus didn't discover the New World

the chinese used ink blocks to print on paper didnt they?

And the Sumerians used cuniforms for printing.

Its the press itself that was the leap of technology. It automated the production process.

it just sucks how in school they teach you its Gutenberg, and the truth is it was the chinese.. im telling you, you learn more on the Internet then you do in school hahahah.... i just read this today, so im shocked!!!