Ottmar Mergenthaler

Ottmar Mergenthaler (born May 11, 1854, Hachtel, Württemberg [Germany]—died Oct. 28, 1899, Baltimore) was a German-born American inventor who developed the Linotype machine. A precocious boy, Mergenthaler was anxious to study engineering, but his father, burdened with financing the higher education of older sons, found the expense beyond his means. He was apprenticed to a watchmaker at age 14 and attended technical school classes at night. In 1872 he emigrated to the United States, becoming...