PRINTING
I'm gonna tell you a few words about one of the most significant inventions of all times - which is -- printing.
The history of printing dates back to quite early times - it all began with duplicating of images by means of stamps or seals. We all know that in Mesopotamia they wrote on clay tablets, don't we? And they also used cylinder-shaped seals made of stone or metal, for rolling an impress onto such tablets. It was before 3000 BC.
The other early form was woodblock printing, which originated in China before 220 AD and was widely used e.g. in Eastern Asia and Egypt. In most - if not all - cases the printing on clothes (like silk) preceded printing on paper or papyrus. The oldest woodblock-printed book is the Diamond Sutra from about 868 AD.
In Christian Europe block printing on clothes was common by 1300. Paper become easily available around 1400 and many images and playing cards have been produced since then. Woodcut books, heavily illustrated, were a cheaper alternative to manuscripts and movable-type printed books. The most famous ones in those days were the Biblia pauperum and the Ars moriendi.
The first known movable type system was created in China by 毕升 -Bi Sheng out of porcelain in the 11th century. The first metal and wooden movable types were invented in the 13th century, also in Eastern Asia. But because of the specific Chinese writing -- that is, their enormous character set - the movable types never gained popularity in that region.
The case was different in Europe. It is traditionally summarized that Johannes Gutenberg developed European movable type printing technology around 1439, although it wasn't that simple. However, compared to woodblock printing, movable type page-setting proved to be quicker and more durable. And the lettering was more uniform, leading to typography and fonts. The high quality and relatively low price of the Gutenberg Bible from 1455 established the superiority of the movable type, and printing presses rapidly spread across Europe and later all over the world. Gutenberg is also credited with the introduction of an oil-based ink, which was more durable than previously used water-based inks. Being a goldsmith, Gutenberg used an alloy of lead, tin and antimony to make his type, which proved to be more suitable than other materials.
The invention of the printing press revolutionized communication and book production leading to the spread of knowledge.
Later, in 1870s, the offset printing was invented, that is widely used even nowadays. In this method the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. It's used with the lithographic process based on the repulsion of oil and water. Printing areas obtain oil-based ink from rollers, while the non-printing areas attract a film of water.
Some modern inventions in the field of printing comprise photocopiers (1938), inkjet printers (1951), laser printers (1969), digital press (1993) and 3D printing (1984).