jan 1, 1440 - Gutenberg's printing press

Description:

Invention of movable metal type printing, developed in Germany | instead of person-person spread copied by hand, allowed for hundreds or thousands of copies to be made + distributed quickly --> spread of idaes

Spread aided by ready availability of paper; this was spread from china through muslim spain to europe, unlike printing press which was local

EFFECT: spread of ideas, common discussion point / common identity across larger region; Paranoid govt/church used it to their benefit and banned books that scared them

Added to timeline:

Date: