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Project Gutenberg History
Below is a short chronological history of Project Gutenberg showing all the major milestones. If you wish for a more in depth history then please see the excellent essay by Marie Lebert, History of Project Gutenberg (1971-2010), also available in French and Spanish.
Chronology
1971-07: Michael Hart keyed in The United States Declaration of Independence (eBook #1) and informed the first 100 internet users. Project Gutenberg was born.
1972: He keyed in The United States Bill of Rights (eBook #2).
1973: He keyed in The United States Constitution (eBook #5).
1974 – 1988: He keyed in parts of the Bible and several works of Shakespeare.
1989-08: The King James Bible (eBook #10).
1991-01: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Caroll (eBook #11).
1991-06: Peter Pan, by James Barrie (eBook #16).
1991: Digitization of one book per month.
1992: Digitization of two books per month.
1993: Digitization of four books per month.
1993-12: Creation of three main sections: Light Literature, Heavy Literature, Reference Literature.
1994: Digitization of eight books per month.
1994-01: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (eBook #100).
1995: Digitization of 16 books per month.
1996 – 1997: Digitization of 32 books per month.
1997-08: La Divina Commedia di Dante, in Italian (eBook #1000).
1997: Launching of Project Gutenberg Consortia Center (PGCC).
1998 – 2000: Digitization of 36 books per month.
1999-05: Don Quijote, by Cervantès, in Spanish (eBook #2000).
2000: Creation of Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (PGLAF).
2000-10: Charles Franks started Distributed Proofreaders to assist Project Gutenberg.
2000-12: A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, 3rd volume, by Proust, in French (eBook #3000).
2001-08: Creation of Project Gutenberg of Australia.
2001-10: The French Immortals Series (eBook #4000).
2001: Digitization of 104 books per month.
2001: Distributed Proofreaders became the main source of Project Gutenberg books.
2002: Distributed Proofreaders became an official Project Gutenberg site.
2002-04: The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (eBook #5000).
2002: Digitization of 203 books per month.
2003-08: “Best of Gutenberg” CD with 600 books.
2003-09: Launching of Project Gutenberg Audio eBooks.
2003-10: The number of books doubled in 18 months, going from 5,000 to 10,000.
2003-10: The Magna Carta (eBook #10000).
2003-12: First DVD, with 9,400 books.
2003: Digitization of 348 books per month.
2003: Project Gutenberg Consortia Center (PGCC) became an official Project Gutenberg site.
2003-12: Launching of Distributed Proofreaders Europe by Project Rastko.
2004-01: Launching of Project Gutenberg Europe by Project Rastko.
2004-02: Michael Hart went off to Europe (Paris, Brussels, Belgrade).
2004-02: Michael Hart’s presentation at UNESCO headquarters, in Paris.
2004-02: Michael Hart’s visit to the European Parliament, in Brussels.
2004-10: 5,000 books processed by Distributed Proofreaders.
2004: Digitization of 338 books per month.
2005-01: The Life of Reason, by George Santayana (eBook #15000).
2005-05: 7,000 books processed by Distributed Proofreaders.
2005-05: First 100 books processed by Distributed Proofreaders Europe.
2005-06: 16,000 books in Project Gutenberg.
2005-06: First 100 books in Project Gutenberg Europe.
2005-07: 500 books at Project Gutenberg of Australia.
2005-10: 5th anniversary of Distributed Proofreaders.
2005: Digitization of 252 books per month.
2006-01: Launching of Project Gutenberg PrePrints.
2006-02: 8,000 books processed by Distributed Proofreaders.
2006-05: Creation of the Distributed Proofreaders Foundation.
2006-07: 35th anniversary of Project Gutenberg.
2006-07: New DVD, with 17,000 books.
2006-11: Launching of the Project Gutenberg News website.
2006-12: 20,000 books in Project Gutenberg.
2006-12: 400 books processed by Distributed Proofreaders Europe.
2006: Digitization of 345 books per month.
2007-03: 10,000 books processed by Distributed Proofreaders.
2007-04: 1,500 books in Project Gutenberg of Australia.
2007-07: Creation of Project Gutenberg Canada (PGC).
2007-12: Launching of Distributed Proofreaders Canada (DPC).
2007: Digitization of 338 books per month.
2008-03: 100 books in Project Gutenberg of Canada.
2008-04: 25,000 books in Project Gutenberg.
2008-04: English Book Collectors, by William Younger Fletcher (eBook #25000).
2008-08: 500 books in Project Gutenberg Europe.
2009-10: The Bird Book by Chester A. Reed (eBook #30000)
2011-07: 40th Anniversary of PG eBooks.
2012-06: Extinct Birds by Walter Rothschild (eBook #40000)