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 it was not introduced to Europe until the middle of the fifteenth century when Johannes Gutenberg perfected a printing press with movable type that would send 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 first public library was the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England, which 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 public library in Europe opened its reading room on the 8th in 1609.