January 3, 2010
Sunglasses Along the Times of the World
It was during the ancient times when the idea of sunglasses made its first introduction to civilization. Many historians discovered sunglasses flourishing as early as the times of Emperor Nero of Rome, who was known to be an enthusiast of gladiator fights. During those occasions, he would always hold polished emerald gems up to his eyes. But it was only between the years of 1268 to 1289 that real sunglasses were invented, and further historical progress was supported in 1352 by the painting of Tommaso da Modena in which his subject person was wearing a pair.


Around the twelfth century, China was noted of the first use of sunglasses in the overseas. It was known then that judges used flat planes made of smoky quartz during interrogation and prosecution. These sunglasses were not really vision-correcting or sun-protecting but only were used to hide their eye expression so as to avoid early presentation of verdict. It was not until 1430 that they learned to use prescription sunglasses as being invented by Italians at that time.

The development of prescription sunglasses continued as 16th century people discovered their benefits and thus termed “A Blessing to the Aged” in 1629. And then the very breakthrough of sunglasses happened in 18th century when James Ayscough introduced green and blue corrective lenses for optical damage. The advance and experimentation continued in order also to resolve problems that arose such as how to keep frames to fit in the face and nose, and by this, makers tried to use leathers, metals, etc.

Many still continued on experimentation but another big innovation happened in 1780 when Benjamin Franklin invented the bifocal lenses. And by 20th century, the world embraced sunglasses as sun protection for the eyes. This was followed by Sam Foster who started selling protective sunglasses in Atlantic City and New Jersey, and then making his Foster Grants as a fashion trend in the 1930s through mass-production. After that, Bausch and Lomb created high-altitude anti-sun glare sunglasses for pilots as requested by the Army Air Corps.


Film industry and its celebrities only began to appreciate sunglasses after Polaroid filter was invented by Edward Land while he used it in making sunglasses. Then Aviators came around and became famous in the fashion world after Ray Ban introduced them, with an anti-glare property, first to the pilots. Hollywood and fashion since then became great influences to the sunglass market as it took a worldwide phenomenon. While in these times, the development of sunglasses has led to inventions of having lightweight and durable property, UV light protection, and even digital music player.
The world continues to revolve and so do the sunglasses. People find ways with technology and ideas always come up. With that, the future for sunglasses remains bright.
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Cataracts and photokeratitis can be developed gradually if we spend too much of our time under the sun without protecting our eyes according to the experts. Cataracts maybe are the most popular eye disease which of course is about developing clouds in the lens of the eyes due to aging, drugs, trauma and UV light exposure. Photokeratitis, on the other hand, is the medical term for what is commonly known as flash burn. See, eyes can get burned and that can be caused by too much UV light exposure which definitely involves sunlight. These two eye diseases are some of the side effects of sun exposure without enough knowledge on how to protect ourselves. In this circumstance, polarized sunglasses are the most effective means to avoid these tragic incidents.

