Description Generally considered the date in 1455 that Johann Gutenberg printed the Bible. Having invented moveable type printing not long before, printed materials took off like the preverbal wildfire. By 1500, 90 million(!) books had been printed. Printing standardized language and spelling no matter the country. (Looking at English texts shows how quickly it could happen.) I would argue The Reformation, The Renaissance and the Enlightenment are a direct result of Gutenberg’s invention.