Michael S. Hart

Michael S. Hart (1947–2011) was an American writer and visionary best known for founding Project Gutenberg, one of the earliest and longest-running efforts to put books online for free.

On July 4, 1971, while at the University of Illinois, Hart typed the U.S. Declaration of Independence into a computer and shared it on the network—an act widely remembered as the spark that helped define the modern eBook and a new idea: a digital library anyone could access.

What makes Hart feel so easy to admire is how human his ambition was: he wasn't trying to build "tech" for its own sake—he was trying to remove friction between people and reading. He spent decades patiently growing Project Gutenberg into a volunteer-powered library of public-domain literature, helping generations download classics at no cost, anywhere.

People who knew him often described him as generous, optimistic, and quietly stubborn in the best way—someone who kept showing up for the mission, year after year, because he truly believed books should belong to everyone.

Michael S. Hart

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