What Are Glasses? A Guide to Understanding Eyewear in 2023 & Its Benefits
Eyeglasses have a long history that dates back to ancient Rome, but it wasn’t until the 13th century in Italy that they began to resemble the glasses we know today. The invention of eyeglasses is credited to an Italian monk named Salvino D’Armate, who placed two convex lenses in a frame and secured them with wire. Over time, eyeglass designs evolved in terms of aesthetics and functionality, with materials like tortoiseshell, horn, gold, silver, and plastic being used for frames. Key innovations in eyewear technology include bifocal lenses invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, lightweight titanium frames introduced in the 1980s, progressive lenses for seamless vision correction transitions, and blue light filtering technology to protect against digital eye strain. Overall, the invention and evolution of eyeglasses have had a profound impact on society.