Eyeglasses invented in northern Italy

1280

An unknown craftsman in the Veneto or Tuscany ground the first convex lenses and mounted them in frames that could be balanced on the nose. Reading spectacles extended the productive lives of aging scholars, scribes, and merchants. Within a generation, Venetian opticians were exporting them across Europe. The invention doubled the working life of anyone whose livelihood depended on close reading, from notaries to gem cutters.