The Printing Press was a very important technological advancement for the communication of society. Originally created in China around 700 during the Tang dynasty. The first mechanical printing press was created by Johannes Gutenberg in 1448. The printing press was used to make all kinds of writings the most impactful being the Gutenberg Bible because it was the first Bible to not be written in Latin. Before the printing press Bibles were hand written by monks in monasteries. These Illuminated Bibles would take monks weeks to write and often had hand-drawn illustrations and the monks worked on them around six hours a day. Many of them also had clinical depression from the repetitive and dismal work they did. It was then translated into many native European tongues so that the masses could read Bibles.
This intensified in 1517 with the start of the Protestant Reformation because as more and more denominations of Christianity emerged countless Bibles were printed. This along with many people being sick of the corrupt Catholic Church at the time made the Protestant Reformation spread like wildfire.
That's the most important part of the printing press's impact but it also made many people become literate. Only 30% of Europeans were literate when the printing press was first created. This invention probably helped create education systems as we know it because without the printing press mass production of books wouldn't have been possible until copying machines were invented in 1938. Without the printing press, newspapers also would have come much later. Generally speaking, it directly resulted in the average person being much more educated than before.
In conclusion, the printing press was one of the most important developments in communication technology ever as it allowed for the mass distribution of the Bible, newspapers, and other books. It helped accelerate education and information across Europe and had a huge impact on the Protestant Revolution.
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