A Brief Chronology of Printing
- Block Printing From 618 to 906, China begins printing using ink-covered carved wooden blocks.
- Diamond Sutra: The first known printed book, printed in China in 868 AD.
- Clay Movable Type: Invented in China in 1041, allowed single-symbol changes without redoing an entire carving.
- Wooden Movable Type: First used in China in the year 1300.
- Gutenberg Press: Gutenberg invented the first printing press with removable wooden or metal letters in 1436.
- Gutenberg Bible: First book published in volume in 1452.
- Color Printing: First done in 1457 by Fust and Schoeffer.
- King James Bible: Published in 1611.
- Photogravure: Invented in 1878 by Karl Klic. Process allows the printing of an engraved image using an engraving plate.
- Linotype: Ottmar Mergenthaler invented the linotype in 1886, enabling one operator to be machinist, type-setter, justifier, typefounder, and type-distributor. Used a keyboard similar to that of a typewriter.
- Teletype: Invented in 1922 by Frank E. Gannett, allowed newspapers to set type by telegraph.
- Xerography: First invented by in 1938 by Chester Carlson. Process uses magnetism in order to adhere ink to paper.
- Phototypesetter: Invented in 1949 by Frenchmen Rene Alphonse Higonnet and Louis Marius Moyroud. Used a strobe light and a series of optics to project characters from a spinning disk onto photographic paper.
- High-Speed Printer: In 1953, the first high-speed printer was developed by Remington-Rand for use on the Univac computer.
- Inkjet Printer: Invented in 1976. Didn't become a consumer item until more than a decade later due to exorbitant pricing.
All sources accessed 9/17/06
http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/102.html
www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/diamond.html
http://www.gannett.com/Gannett100%20Web%20Photo%20Gallery/PhotoGallery.swf
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blphototypesetting.htm
http://www.curtis-collection.com/process.html
http://www.imaging.org/resources/web_tutorials/xerography.cfm