History of Printing Timeline (From Ancient Times to Present Day)

 

Printing technology has evolved across different industries, revolutionizing how we share information, produce books, and create visual media. 

To help readers explore these important milestones, we’ve created a timeline that highlights key developments in printing history—from ancient woodblock techniques to today’s digital advancements. 

This timeline is perfect for anyone interested in understanding how printing has shaped communication over the centuries.

Ancient Printing History Timeline


     Year 		           
                                           Event
ca. 3100 BCE                  
 Cuneiform, the earliest known writing system, was developed in Sumer (modern-day Iraq) with wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.
ca. 3000 BCE      Cylinder seals were used in Mesopotamia to print impressions on clay, one of the earliest printing methods.
ca. 3000 BCE Papyrus was used as a writing material in ancient Egypt, an early form of paper.
ca. 3000 BCE Ink made from lamp-black was used in China for writing and artistic purposes.
ca. 200 BCE Parchment, a durable writing material made from treated animal skin, was developed in Pergamon (modern-day Turkey).
75 CE The oldest known amate paper was found in a tomb at Huitzilapa, Jalisco, Mexico.
105 CE The first documented papermaking process was attributed to Cai Lun in China during the Eastern Han dynasty.
610 CE Papermaking spread to Japan, introduced by Buddhist monks for writing sutras.

Medieval Printing History Timeline


   Year 		           
                                           Event
704–751                      The Great Dharani Sutra, one of the oldest woodblock prints, is created on Korean hanji paper.
7th-century Papermaking spreads from China to Korea and Japan.
711 The Moors introduce papermaking techniques to Spain.
751 Chinese papermakers are captured in Samarkand, bringing papermaking to the Islamic world.
794–795 The first paper mill in the Islamic world is established in Baghdad.
ca. 800 The Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the Gospels, is produced in Britain and Ireland.
868 The Diamond Sutra, the oldest known printed book with a date, is produced in China.
932 Feng Dao, a Chinese official, orders the printing of Confucian classics using wood blocks.
969 First recorded use of paper for playing cards in China.
1035 A Persian traveler records the use of paper for wrapping in Cairo, marking the earliest record of packaging.
1041–1048 Pi Sheng in China invented movable type made from clay.
1100 A paper mill is recorded in Fez, Morocco, expanding papermaking into North Africa.
1151 The first recorded European paper mill is established in Xàtiva, Spain.
1239 The Song of Enlightenment, the oldest known book printed with metal movable type, is produced in Korea.
1276 A paper mill is established in Fabriano, Italy, improving papermaking techniques in Europe.
1282 Watermarks are first used in Italian-made paper.
1298 Marco Polo reports seeing the printing of paper money in China.
1309 The earliest known English document written on paper is created.
1348 Papermaking is introduced to France, near Troyes.
1390 The first German paper mill is established in Nuremberg by Ulmann Stromer.
1403 The Guild of Stationers, a professional organization for book-related trades, is founded in London.
1420 Papermaking is introduced to Kashmir, India.
1423 The first known European woodblock print, "St. Christopher," is produced.
1430s Engraving is combined with drypoint to create intaglio printing plates in Germany.
1438–1444 Johannes Gutenberg develops the adjustable type mold in Mainz, Germany.
1454 Gutenberg’s first dated printed document, a papal indulgence, is issued.
1455 Gutenberg completed his 42-line Bible, one of the earliest major books printed with movable type.
1457 The Psalter by Fust and Schoeffer includes the first printed colophon and a known printing error.
1464 Arnold Pannartz and Konrad Sweinheim became the first printers in Italy, using Roman type.
1469 Austria begins papermaking.
1476 William Caxton establishes the first printing press in England near Westminster Abbey.
1478 First book was printed in Oxford, shortly after Caxton's press was established in England.
1486 The first English book with colored illustrations is printed.
1491 Papermaking is introduced in Poland.
1493 The Nuremberg Chronicle, one of the first books to integrate text and illustrations, is published.
1495 Daniel Hopfer develops etching techniques in Augsburg, Germany.
1499 A woodcut of a printing press was featured in La Grande Danse Macabre, printed in Lyon.

The Invention of Printing Press in the Middle Ages

Early Modern Printing History Timeline


    Year 		           
                             Event
1501 Aldus Manutius introduces italic type and small-format books in Venice.
1508                             First use of paper for book printing in Scotland.
1520– 1523 Daniel Bomberg prints the Babylonian Talmud in Venice.
1529 Champfleury by Geoffroy Tory promotes grammar and letterform design in Paris.
1530 Claude Garamond designs a Roman typeface in Paris.
1537–1538 Paganino and Alessandro Paganini produced the first printed Qur'an in Arabic in Venice.
1539 Juan Pablos sets up the first printing press in North America in Mexico City.
1545 Claude Garamond establishes the first independent type foundry, creating his typeface.
1569 Gerardus Mercator publishes a world map with a new projection.
1576 Papermaking reaches Russia.
1586 Papermaking begins in the Netherlands.
1591 Papermaking is introduced in Scotland.
1596 Denmark starts papermaking.
1612 Sweden begins producing paper.
1639 The Bay Psalm Book, the first book printed in the American colonies, was published in Cambridge.
1642 The Mezzotint printing technique is invented.
1665 England issues its first patent for papermaking.
1683 Joseph Moxon publishes Mechanick Exercises on The Whole Art of Printing, the first printing manual.
1690 First American paper mill opens in Philadelphia.
Publick Occurrences, America’s first newspaper, is published in Boston.
1698 Public library opens in Charleston, South Carolina.
1702 The Daily Courant, England’s first daily newspaper, is published.
1706 First recorded paper mill in Wales, in Halghton, Flintshire.
1728 Stereotype printing plates are developed.
1750 John Baskerville designs a typeface in Cambridge, England.
1752 Canada’s first newspaper, The Halifax Gazette, is published in Nova Scotia.
1757 James Whatman developed wove paper for printing.
1764 Manuel Typographique, a book on French type design by Pierre-Simon Fournier type design, was published.
1775 Common Sense by Thomas Paine is published.
1783 Joseph Montgolfier invented a hot air balloon made of paper.
1786 First successful wage strike by printers in Philadelphia.
1790 Hydraulic press was invented in England by Joseph Bramah.
1798 Giambattista Bodoni designs a new typeface in Parma, Italy.
1799 Nicholas-Louis Robert patents the first paper-making machine in France.

Modern Printing History Timeline


   Year
                                                      Event
1803                                                         Charles Mahon creates an iron hand press; Fourdrinier develops the continuous paper-making machine.
1805 R. Hoe & Company founded in New York; carbon paper is introduced.
1806 Le Canadien, Canada's first French-language newspaper, is published in Quebec City.
1810 Ink rollers replace ink balls in London; Isaiah Thomas publishes The History of Printing in America.
1813 George Clymer invents the Columbian printing press with a unique lever mechanism.
1814 Steam-powered cylinder press installed at The Times in London.
1816 William Caslon IV introduces the first sans-serif typeface.
1818 Giambattista Bodoni’s Manual Tipografico published; Stephenson Blake type foundry founded in Sheffield.
1820s Photoengraving and the Albion iron hand press are developed; Treadwell introduces the treadle-powered press.
1821 First commercial lithography firm was established by William Barnet and Isaac Doolittle.
1823 Mexico establishes its Government Printing Office in Mexico City.
1824 William Pickering publishes the first cloth-bound books in London.
1825 Typographia by Thomas Curson Hansard is published; Louis John Pouchée creates decorative type.
1826 Daniel Fanshaw becomes a major printer in New York; Eastwood and Skinner start papermaking in Toronto.
1827 Freedom’s Journal, the first African-American newspaper, is published in New York; Darius Wells introduces mass-produced wood type.
1828 Darius Wells publishes a wood type catalog and introduces a wood-cutting router.
1829 Louis Braille develops the Braille writing system for the blind.
1830 The Adams Power Press was introduced.
Calendered paper eas made in England.
1830s Paperback books emerge in England and Ireland.
1834 The London Union of Compositors was formed; pantograph was added to wood type production.
1835 The first printing press arrived in New Mexico, brought by Padre Martinez.
1837 Chromolithography (multicolor printing) is developed.
1838 Electrotype plates invented by Moritz von Jacobi; David Bruce Jr. patents a type-casting machine in the U.S.
1839 Practical photography is invented.
1841 Tauchnitz Verlag publishes the first paperback books in Germany.
1843 Rotary letterpress is invented.
1844 Paper cutter patented by Guillaume Massiquot; Toronto Typographical Union established.
1849 Thomas Howard produces the first handmade paper in Salt Lake City.
1850 New York Printers’ Union is founded.
The Heidelberg printing press manufacturer starts in Germany.
1851 George Phineas Gordon developed the platen job press; paper is made from wood pulp.
1852 National Typographical Union was founded in the U.S.
1853 The Provincial Freeman, the first Black-owned Canadian newspaper, was founded by Mary Ann Shadd Cary.
1855 Bank of England issues standardized banknotes.
1856 First paper folding machine was developed.
1857 Work begins on the Oxford English Dictionary.
1860 Rotary gravure printing press is invented.
1861 Confederate forces destroy a New Mexico printing press.
1866 American Printer: A Manual of Typography by Thomas MacKellar is published.
1869 National Typographical Union becomes the International Typographical Union, admitting women members.
1870 Collotype, or photogelatin printing, is developed.
1871 First daily newspaper in Japan, Yokohama Mainichi Shimbun, is published.
1873 Barnhart Brothers & Spindler type foundry established in Chicago.
1875 Rotary offset lithographic press developed; mimeograph invented by Thomas Edison.
1876 Plantin-Moretus Museum was established in Antwerp.
1879 Benday color process was introduced
The Gestetner duplicator and Smyth sewing machine were invented.
1880 First halftone image printed in New York Daily Graphic.
1881 Frederic Ives patents the halftone process; Chandler & Price founded.
1883 Inland Printer trade journal was established in Chicago.
1884 Grolier Club, a bibliophilic society, was founded in New York.
1886 Linotype machine, the first automatic typesetter, is developed.
1887 Monotype typesetting machine patented by Tolbert Lanston.
1888 The British Printer trade journal was founded.
1889 Kelmscott Press was founded by William Morris in London, sparking the fine press movement.
1890 Flexography, a new printing process, is developed.
1891 St Bride Library and printing school was established in London.
1892 American Type Founders formed by merging 23 foundries.
1895 Caxton Club was founded in Chicago.Stempel type foundry established in Frankfurt.
1896 Central School of Arts and Crafts established in London.
1900 Doves Press founded in London by T.J. Cobden-Sanderson.
1902 While creating Air conditioning accidentally invented by Willis Carrier while developing a dehumidifier for a printer.
1904 Bibliographical Society of America founded.
1905 The Society of Printers was founded in Boston.
1906

The Ludlow Typograph hot metal typesetting system was developed for typesetting applications.

1907 Photostat and Rectigraph machines developed.
Modern screen printing process is invented.
1909 Vandercook flatbed cylinder press was introduced in Chicago.
1911 Allied Printing Trades Association formed, merging five unions including the International Typographical Union (ITU) and Pressmen, Bookbinders, Photo Engravers, Stereotypers, and Electrotypers Unions.
1912 American Type Founders publishes American Specimen Book of Type Styles, its most extensive catalog.
1914 American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) was founded in New York.
1919 Bauhaus School founded in Weimar, Germany, profoundly influencing modern design and typography.
1921 Wirephoto technology for transmitting images is developed, paving the way for rapid image distribution.
1922 Daniel Berkeley Updike publishes Printing Types: Their History, Forms, and Use, a foundational text on type and printing history.
1923 Deberny et Peignot type foundry established in Paris.
1924 Lithographers Technical Foundation (forerunner of Graphic Arts Technical Foundation) is formed.
1927 Futura, a geometric sans-serif typeface designed by Paul Renner, is released and quickly becomes popular.
1928 Gill Sans typeface designed by Eric Gill is released, becoming a staple of British typography.
1929 Graphic Arts Monthly trade magazine founded, covering industry trends and technology.
1930 The Colophon: A Book Collectors’ Quarterly begins publication, celebrating fine books and printing arts.
1932 Times New Roman typeface is released by The Times in London, designed by Stanley Morison and Victor Lardent.
1935 Penguin Books introduces paperbacks in Great Britain, making literature more affordable and accessible.
1937 American Imprint Inventory project begins, cataloging early U.S. publications and fostering historical record-keeping.
1938 Chester Carlson invents xerography (photocopying), revolutionizing document duplication.
1940 Print: A Quarterly Journal of the Graphic Arts is launched, covering advancements and aesthetics in graphic design.
1943 Dard Hunter publishes Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft, documenting papermaking techniques.
1949 Phototypesetting technology is introduced, transforming typesetting and layout processes in the printing industry.
1951 Inkjet printing technology is introduced, marking an early advancement in digital printing technology.
1952 The Wonderful World of Insects, the first book composed by phototypesetting, is published.
1955 John Ryder’s Printing for Pleasure is published, promoting the amateur printing and fine press movement.
1957 Helvetica typeface is introduced by Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann in Switzerland, becoming an iconic modernist font.
1959 Xerox introduces the first office photocopier, expanding access to document duplication in workplaces worldwide.
1960 Tamarind Lithography Workshop is founded by June Wayne in Los Angeles, dedicated to advancing the lithography printmaking process.
1963 Pantone Color Matching System is introduced, standardizing colors across various industries.
1964 Printing Historical Society founded in London, focusing on preserving and studying the history of printing.
1967 Dot matrix printing technology is introduced, marking an advancement in computer printer technology.
1969 Gary Starkweather invents the laser printer at Xerox, laying the foundation for future high-speed printing technologies.
1971 Project Gutenberg, the first digital library, is launched by Michael Hart, aiming to make public domain books available online.
1972 Thermal printing technology is developed and used in early fax machines and retail receipt printers.
1973 Xerox PARC developed the Graphical User Interface (GUI), which would later inspire modern computer interfaces.
1974 American Printing History Association is founded, promoting study and preservation of printing history.
1977 Gocco screen printing system is developed in Japan, making small-scale color screen printing accessible.
1978 TeX typesetting system introduced by Donald Knuth, revolutionizing the composition of complex documents, especially in academia.
1983 Desktop publishing software is introduced, allowing individuals to create professional-quality documents on personal computers.
1984 Apple Macintosh computer is released, featuring a user-friendly interface that accelerates desktop publishing growth.
1991 The World Wide Web is launched by Tim Berners-Lee, transforming global access to information.
1993 Adobe introduces the Portable Document Format (PDF), enabling consistent document sharing across platforms.
1995 Amazon.com is founded, starting as an online bookstore and eventually transforming the book distribution industry.
2001 Wikipedia, an open-source online encyclopedia, is launched, becoming a major reference source globally.
2004 Facebook is launched, initiating a new era of social media and online content sharing.
2007 Amazon releases the Kindle e-reader, popularizing digital reading and transforming the book industry.
2011 The St. John’s Bible, the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned by a Benedictine Abbey since the invention of printing, is completed.
2017 The U.S. Postal Service issued a thermochromic ink stamp depicting a solar eclipse that changes when touched.
2019 The U.S. Department of Labor discontinues tracking the commercial printing industry in its monthly jobs report, reflecting industry changes.
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