December 8

It often takes a while for the effects of a spectacular invention to be felt. Movable type may have been perfected in Korea in the 13th century but movable type was not introduced to the Western world until the middle of the fifteenth century when Johannes Gutenberg perfected a printing press with movable type that sent ripples through the world. Gutenberg’s press allowed books to be produced with greater speed and at remarkably lower cost. Steadily rising literacy rates in Europe established a strong market for books of all sorts, though it would take several more centuries for scandal sheets to be perfected. The very first public library was the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England, opened in 1602 with Thomas Bodley’s collection of 2000 books as its centerpiece. A few years later, in Milan, Italy, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the second oldest public library, opened its reading room on the 8th in 1609.