Did You Know...Fascinating Printing Facts

Perhaps not questions that will come up the next time you play "Trivial Pursuit," but here are some interesting and unusual printing-related historical facts that demonstrate just how an important and transformative role printing has played throughout the ages.

Did you know... Johannes Gutenberg died a poor man? He was sued by his wealthy business partners in 1455 and lost the lawsuit, which resulted in the iconic printer being forced to give up his printing business and, ultimately, into financial ruin, before his death in 1468.

Did you know... Gutenberg printed more than 150 copies of the Bible, but the whereabouts of only 49 are known today?

Did you know... Ben was not the first printer in the Franklin family? When Ben was only a teenager, his older brother was publishing the New England Courant. However, by age 22, Franklin was in business for himself, printing the Pennsylvania Gazette.

His printing company was also contracted to print all paper currency for Pennsylvania and Delaware, as well as documents from the Pennsylvania Assembly, where Franklin was an elected clerk. Franklin was eventually appointed Postmaster of Philadelphia, which resulted in greatly increasing the circulation of his newspaper.

Did you know... Even though "America's printer" Ben Franklin was a successful businessman and renowned inventor, he was in substantial debt most of his life? Although not widely known, Franklin was often reckless in his business ventures, while spending large sums of money to support his statesmen reputation and lifestyle, and fund his global travel and adventures.

Did you know... The world's smallest printed book (according to the "Guinness World Book of Records") is a 22-page Japanese picture book, containing mostly flowers, that measures 0.0291x0.0295˝? A magnifying glass is necessary to see the images.

Did you know... The largest catalog printed was more than 2.5˝ thick? In January 2005, Aviall Services released its "Product and Catalog Book," which contains 2,656 pages and weighs 7.4 lbs.