Eyeglasses

Reading Stone

Mar 1, 1000

The reading stone was used to help read with people who need reading glasses

Representation of Eyeglasses

Mar 5, 1352

Tomasso da Modena showed a representation of eye glasses in his artwork. His paintings showed people wear magnifying glasses on their nose.

The First Eyeglass Frame Temple

Mar 5, 1600

Spanish craftsman invented the first eyeglass frame temple. They put strings or silk through the frame and looped them over their ear's.

Concave and Convex Lenses

Mar 5, 1604

In the 17th Century people started understanding the principle of these lenses due to Johannes Kepler, who published the first correct explanation. Glasses then started to help correct problems with sight distances.

Rigid Temple Eye Glasses

Mar 5, 1727

Optician Edward Scarlett invented the rigid temple eye glasses, which sat upon the user's ears which helped the glasses stay on their face.

Cylindrical Lenses

Mar 5, 1825

Cylindrical Lenses were invented by Sir George Airy. These lenses were used to correct astigmatism.

Bifocals and Trifocals

Mar 5, 1827

An optician in London named John Isaac Hawkins invented and patented the terms bifocals and trifocals. But others believe that Benjamin Franklin did invent them. Bifocal helps correct nearsightedness and trifocals help correct near,medium, and distant vision impairments.

Invention of the First Tolerable Contact Lense

Mar 5, 1887

F. E. Muller of Germany in 1887 created the first tolerable and able to see through contact lense