Gutenberg is most famously known for his invention of the printing press in 1450. His idea of the press started when he joined the gold-smiths' guild in hopes to make lots of money. Before his pre-development of the printing press, he had the idea of mass-producing 32,000 mirrors, but in order to do such a feat, he would need some sort of printing press to pull it off. It wasn't until 1444 when Gutenberg had all of the elements to go about inventing his printing press. Helping him finance the printing press was Johann Fust, a secret Fust kept for many years. Their first successful project was the printing of the bible. This, however, took nearly three years to complete as it was finally launched around 1453. The bible was a 42-line bible which is now known as the Gutenberg Bible. Unfortunately, there were some internal issues between Gutenberg and Fust's partnership as Fust demanded the money he had once financed for the idea of the press. After much debate, the machinery was given property to Fust, but the invention was still regarded as Gutenberg's.
Once the printing press was developed, a it was believed that the "third revolution" had started. The printing press gave a new complexity in the way information was spread around the world. Gone were oral and scribal cultures in European cultures. They weren't needed anymore. As time went on, there were fixes to the printing press that made it even more efficient. The invention of the printing press is arguably the most important development in American media history. It transformed the way people received the news, and it also helped expand ideas as time went on.
Fellow, American Media History, 3rd Ed.(Boston: Wadworth, 2013), #1, #2, #3
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