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History of eyeglasses

Pioneering forms of magnifying glasses

• 1.The first record of magnifying glass lenses was made in the 5th century BC.
• 2.A globe of glass filled with water was used in 1st century AD to magnify small and indistinct letters.
• 3.In 1262, lenses with magnifying properties were also recorded.
• 4.The first recorded usage of sunglasses with the capability of glare protection was in China in the 12th century. They came in the form of flat panes of smoky quartz.

Invention of formal eyeglasses with corrective properties

• 1.The first pair of wearable eyeglasses was invented by an Italian named Salvino D'Armate in around 1284. This forerunner was probably linked with the Italy's leading role in eyewear industry worldwide.
• 2.Pictorial evidences of eyeglasses usage appeared later in the 13th century.
• 3.In 1403, a depiction of eyeglasses was found in an altarpiece of a church in Germany.
• 4.A 1289 manuscript now owned by a professor of medicine at the University of Pisa showed that the author wrote that he had greatly benefited from the recent invention of corrective eyeglasses.
• 5.The exact year when the first pair of corrective glasses was invented has never been clear and certain. But now most historians agree that the time was between 1280 and 1300 in Italy.

Convex and concave lenses with corrective properties

• 1.In the beginning, only hyperopia and presbyopia could be corrected using convex lenses.
• 2.Johannes Kepler published the explanation on convex and concave lenses' functionality of correcting myopia and presbyopia in 1604.
• 3.All of the early corrective lenses either convex or concave were of single-vision type, indicating that only one vision problem e.g. myopia, hyperopia or presbyopia was under control.

Eyeglasses frame evolution

• 1.Those early eyewear pieces should be handheld in place or used by exerting pressure on the nose.
• 2.A later version was to use a ribbon passed over the wearer's head.
• 3.The first pair of glasses of the modern style emerged in 1727, developed by the British optician named Edward Scarlett.
• 4.Scissors glasses and lorgnettes prevailed in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
• 5.Later the Zeiss Punktal spherical point-focus lenses were developed and maintained its leading role for the following decades.

Eyeglass lenses evolution

• 1.As stated before, single-vision eyeglass lenses with a single focal point were the only available lens type. Patients suffering from two vision problems had to use two different pairs of eyeglasses during different tasks.
• 2.The first version of multifocal lenses was invented by the American statesman Benjamin Franklin in 1784. Yet the exact product was called bifocal eyeglasses. Today, bifocal lenses are widely known that they can correct both myopia and presbyopia. Modern bifocals differ slightly from Benjamin Franklin bifocal.
• 3.Trifocal lenses and progressive lenses only have a history of several decades. These lenses were invented with a purpose to help in reading the computer screen. The intermediate vision needed by computer tasks is added to regular bifocal lenses.