Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gutenberg was born in the Archbishopric of Mainz, Germany. He lisved in Strasbourg, France for a time and while there began to work on the possibility of printing with individual pieces of metal cast type. By the time Gutenberg returned to Mainz in 1448 he had mastered the techniques of printing and he persuaded Johann Fust to finance the venture. Fust, with his son-in-law, Peter Shoffer, later took control of the printing shop in Mainz, when Gutenberg could not fulfill his financial obligations.
Gutengerg released portions of his Bible in 1455 at the Frankfurt Trade Fair and cimpleted the printing in 1456. This was the beginning of the strong current of print that has not abated since. The forces released with printing have influenced the world's history since 1456.
Printing, as the first mass produced process seen in the world, has proven to be "the greatest extension of human consiousness ever created." (Paul Gray, Time Magazine. Vol. 154, no. 27, p. 3 of internet edition.) The computer and the internet are, in many ways, mere extensions of the art of printing. For these reasons, Johannes Gutenberg was named "Man of the Millennium".