Johannes Gutenberg was a German inventor who lived during the 1400s and is often credited with inventing the printing press.
The technique of “block printing” was well-known at the time: A page of text could be carved into a block of wood and then used to create multiple copies of a page over and over again. This had been used in Asia for hundreds of years, and some publishers in Europe tried to use it for books.
It wasn’t until almost 100 years after Gutenberg’s death that he was identified as the inventor of the printing press in a book on Germanic history. Over time, his reputation grew wildly. For hundreds of years, he was written about as though he were single-handedly responsible for everything from literacy in Europe to the Protestant Reformation.
Of course, by now the name Gutenberg has effectively carved its place in history, no matter how shady and convoluted the true historical record might be.
Or perhaps a lesson for grifters: That even if you die penniless, you never know how history will remember you.