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printing press
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printing press Article

When was the printing press invented?

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Movable type and paper were invented in China, and printing with movable type was undertaken in Korea by the 14th century, if not earlier. The printing press first became mechanized in Europe. The earliest mention of a printing press in Europe appears in a lawsuit in Strasbourg in 1439. It reveals construction of a press for Johannes Gutenberg and his associates. The earliest European printing presses owed much to the medieval paper press, which was in turn modeled after the ancient wine-and-olive press of the Mediterranean area.

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