The coming of printing as we know it changed the world forever. The earliest printed work of any kind goes back to the 868 AD in China. Prior to the invention of the printing press, however, books were largely produced to hold certain cultural designs or pictures and maps. The coming of the printing press, however, changed everything and the world has never been the same.

• In 1440, German inventor Johannes Gutenberg created the first printing press that had moveable type. His invention revolutionized the world and led to the huge advancements that science experienced over the later centuries. It made knowledge and information cheaper to produce so that it soon became available to everyone and it allowed the advent of newspapers on a wide scale. The printing and the design was of such high quality that the Gutenberg press remained the standard for over 600 years.
• In 1886 a new improvement in printing came along to enhance the ability to mass produce books, pamphlets and newspapers. The linotype composing machine caused a great leap forward in the printing process. Soon after, two Frenchmen invented the first useable phototypesetting machine and in 1907 Samuel Simon of England made a breakthrough with his invention of silk screening.
• By the early 1960’s, printing leaped forward again with the use of cathode ray tubes allowing for precise phototypesetting and then came the creation of laser printing which allows for text, or anything else for that matter, to be almost immediately set and printed.
• Printing has been, perhaps, the most remarkable of all human inventions. It has allowed for expanded communication to include news as well as information and, especially, knowledge.