The Gutenberg Press（Renaissance woodcut）

587 years agoThe Printing Press

1440

The Gutenberg Press

Around 1440, Gutenberg invented the printing press, and books began to be reproduced at scale.

Enter the printing workshop

Art style · Renaissance woodcut

World population

466Mpeople

Primary energy power

1.3×10¹¹W

London → New York message

—

Data from 1620

Civilization metrics

Each sparkline shows the documented history of a metric on a logarithmic time axis. The dot marks the selected moment.

Kardashev index

0.510

Based on primary energy power · Type I = 1

World population

466Mpeople

1/18 of today

Total human primary energy power

1.3×10¹¹W

1/162 of today

Compute per dollar

—

No reliable data yet · data begins 1945

Fastest delivery time for a message from London to New York

—

No reliable data yet · data begins 1620

Fastest speed reached by humans

63km/h

1/637 of today

Near this moment

The eight closest milestones. Select a title to jump there.

1040Culture
Around 1040, Bi Sheng of the Northern Song invented movable type made of baked clay. Source
1088Humanity
Shen Kuo gave the first written description of the magnetic needle compass in his Dream Pool Essays. Source
1440Culture
Around 1440, Gutenberg invented the printing press, and books began to be reproduced at scale. Source
1492-10-12Humanity
A transatlantic route opened, beginning sustained contact between the Old World and the New. Source
1522-09-06Humanity
The remnants of Magellan's fleet, led by Elcano, returned to Spain, completing the first voyage around the world. Source
1543Humanity
Copernicus published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, placing the Sun rather than Earth at the center. Source
1610-03-13Humanity
Sidereus Nuncius was published, recording mountains on the Moon and the moons of Jupiter. Source
1687-07-05Humanity
Newton set out the laws of motion and universal gravitation, describing heaven and Earth with the same mathematics. Source

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Scenes across eras

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The Printing Press

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The printing press makes books cheap to mass-produce and knowledge spreads far faster; the Age of Discovery binds the continents together.

1440The Gutenberg Press

Playable workshops

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Every timeline entry cites its source. Metrics interpolate logarithmically between sourced data points. Forecasts include institutional and community views, and attributed site scenarios; years are not guaranteed realization dates. Illustrations are AI-generated in each era's style.

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