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Ottmar Mergenthaler

 
Ottmar Mergenthaler

 
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Ottmar Mergenthaler (May 11, 1854 – October 28, 1899) was a German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 inventor
Inventor

An inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method, form, device or other useful means. The word inventor comes form the latin verb invenire, invent-, to find....
, who has been called a second Gutenberg
Johannes Gutenberg

Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg was a Germany goldsmith and printer who is credited with being the first European to use movable type printing, in around 1439, and the global inventor of the mechanical printing press....
 because his invention of a machine that could easily and quickly set movable type. This machine revolutionized the art of printing. Prior to Mergenthaler's invention of the linotype
Linotype machine

File:Linotype Zeilenblock Frontansicht.jpgFile:Linotype Zeilenblock Seitenansicht.jpgThe Linotype machine is a "line casting" machine used in printing....
 in 1884, no newspaper in the world had more than eight pages.

Mergenthaler was born in Hachtel
Bad Mergentheim

Bad Mergentheim is a town in the Main-Tauber district in the Germany state of Baden-W?rttemberg....
, Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-W?rttemberg is one of the 16 States of Germany of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-W?rttemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine?but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River ....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. He was the third son of a school teacher, Johann George Mergenthaler from Hohenacker
Hohenacker

Hohenacker, once a town, is now part of Waiblingen, Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany....
 in Waiblingen
Waiblingen

Waiblingen is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart Region, directly neighboring Stuttgart....
.






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Ottmar Mergenthaler (May 11, 1854 – October 28, 1899) was a German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 inventor
Inventor

An inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method, form, device or other useful means. The word inventor comes form the latin verb invenire, invent-, to find....
, who has been called a second Gutenberg
Johannes Gutenberg

Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg was a Germany goldsmith and printer who is credited with being the first European to use movable type printing, in around 1439, and the global inventor of the mechanical printing press....
 because his invention of a machine that could easily and quickly set movable type. This machine revolutionized the art of printing. Prior to Mergenthaler's invention of the linotype
Linotype machine

File:Linotype Zeilenblock Frontansicht.jpgFile:Linotype Zeilenblock Seitenansicht.jpgThe Linotype machine is a "line casting" machine used in printing....
 in 1884, no newspaper in the world had more than eight pages.

Mergenthaler was born in Hachtel
Bad Mergentheim

Bad Mergentheim is a town in the Main-Tauber district in the Germany state of Baden-W?rttemberg....
, Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-W?rttemberg is one of the 16 States of Germany of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-W?rttemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine?but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River ....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
. He was the third son of a school teacher, Johann George Mergenthaler from Hohenacker
Hohenacker

Hohenacker, once a town, is now part of Waiblingen, Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany....
 in Waiblingen
Waiblingen

Waiblingen is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart Region, directly neighboring Stuttgart....
. He apprenticed to a watchmaker before moving to Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland in the United States. Baltimore is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay....
, in 1872. In 1878, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. He invented the linotype machine
Linotype machine

File:Linotype Zeilenblock Frontansicht.jpgFile:Linotype Zeilenblock Seitenansicht.jpgThe Linotype machine is a "line casting" machine used in printing....
 in 1886, a machine that allowed an operator to automatically set metal type, which revolutionized the printing industry. He died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacterium, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect the central nervous system, the lymphatic system, the circulatory system, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal system, bones, joints, and even the...
 in Baltimore in 1899.

An operational linotype is on display at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, in the museum's print shop. Baltimore’s vocational high school, Mergenthaler Vocational Technical Senior High School
Mergenthaler Vocational Technical Senior High School

Mergenthaler Vocational - Technical Senior High School, commonly referred to as Mervo, is a public high school and trade school in Baltimore, Maryland....
, which opened in 1953, is named after him, although is it commonly referred to simply as "MERVO." Mergenthaler Hall on the Homewood campus of the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Hopkins or JHU, is a private university research university located in Baltimore, Maryland, Maryland, United States....
 was constructed in 1940-41 with money provided by Eugene and Mrs. Ottmar Mergenthaler, son and widow of Ottmar Mergenthaler.

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