Gutenberg Dies: Printing Press Creator Changes World
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press around 1440, borrowed heavily to build it, and was sued by his financial backer, Johann Fust, who won the lawsuit and walked off with the press and most of the type. Gutenberg kept going with a new workshop. The Bible he printed — the Gutenberg Bible, 180 copies, two volumes, 1,282 pages — is one of the most valuable books in the world. He died in 1468, having received a modest pension from the Archbishop of Mainz. The press had already spread to Italy, France, and Spain. Within 50 years of his death, more books had been printed than in all of European history before him.
February 3, 1468
558 years ago
What Else Happened on February 3
The Normans conquered Southern Italy because younger sons had nothing to inherit back home. Drogo of Hauteville was one of twelve brothers who left Normandy as …
Ramon Berenguer III married Douce I of Provence in 1112. She was 18. He was 35 and already widowed. The marriage joined Barcelona's Mediterranean ports with Pro…
Papal mercenaries under Cardinal Robert of Geneva slaughtered over 2,000 residents of Cesena after the city resisted Church authority, an atrocity so severe it …
Sultan Mehmed II ascended the Ottoman throne, inheriting a fractured empire and a precarious geopolitical position. Two years later, he orchestrated the fall of…
Bartolomeu Dias sailed past the southern tip of Africa without realizing it. A storm pushed his ships so far off course that when he turned back north, he hit t…
The Portuguese won at Diu with seventeen ships against a combined fleet of over a hundred. They controlled the Indian Ocean spice trade for the next century bec…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.