High Middle Ages · Europe · Technology
1280
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.
In context
Also in 1280 (4 other events on record)
- Chinese astronomers complete the Shoushi calendar · East Asia · Science
- Kubilai dispatches Guo Shoujing on survey · East Asia · Science
- Nicholas III reorganizes the papal states · Europe · Politics
- Moscow rises quietly under tribute to the Horde · Europe · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Technology
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.