History Of Eyeglasses

Submitted by: HOST GFS Susi@aol.com

 

When and where were the first eyeglasses made?

Although Nero used emerald-colored lenses to view the gladiator games in A.D. 60, it's questionable whether he could actually see better. The first "reading glass" was developed around A.D. 1000 but was more of a magnifying glass than an eyeglass. Most historians believe the first eyeglasses were invented in 1284 or 1285. No one knows if the inventor was a monk, a scientist, or a craftsman, but all agree that the inventor was Italian.

In the 1300s eyeglasses were a luxury used by the rich as a symbol of their wealth and power. However, when Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1456, the history of eyeglasses changed forever. Because of the widespread availability of books, the use of reading glasses gradually filtered down to the common people and became an important part of everyday life. However, eyeglasses still had a long way to go. Finding a pair that helped the wearer see better was a time-consuming process of trying on one pair after another until sight improved. In the seventeenth century the Spanish invented the first graded lenses, which solved the problem of the trial-and-error fitting of eyeglasses.

Until the eighteenth century, eyeglasses either balanced precariously on the nose or were held by the rim with one hand. Finally, an optician in Paris added short arms that extended to the temples, and an optician in England carried the idea further by extending the arms to the ears. This became the world standard for eyeglass frames.

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