The history of sunglasses is not a recent fad. During prehistoric times, Eskimos used walrus tusks to form makeshift eyewear which had narrow slits cut in them to help block out the glare from the snow as they hunted. They have been in use since the 12th century in China. They have been around for thousands of years. Nero the Roman emperor wore colored emeralds as he watched the games at the Coliseum.
It wasn’t until 1752 that James Ayscough experimented with green tinted glass, because he believed that blue and green tint would aid people in correcting their vision. Because of the rise of the disease called syphilis, eye doctors during the early part of the 20th century developed sunglasses using yellow or brown lenses to block out light that hurt the patients’ eyes which was one of the major symptoms of the disease.
The history of polarised sunglasses started becoming very popular during the early 1900’s by movie stars as they needed to wear them to block the bright stage lights. They also used them to go out into public whenever they did not want to be recognized; however, at this time sunglasses had not been polarised. During the 1950’s people started using sunglasses to help block out the glare of the sun as they went outside and while they drove.
It wasn’t until the 1970’s that eye doctors began realizing the importance of wearing sunglasses to help protect people’s eyes from the damaging ultraviolet rays of the sun. Shortly after this time scientists developed polarised sunglasses.
Today polarised sunglasses are so popular, everyone is using them just to look cool. There are many eyewear companies which have developed designer polarised sunglasses. So people can now not only have an eye exam at the doctor’s office but they can order designer glasses to help make them look good. Some people like polarised sunglasses which have thin glass frames while other people prefer a heavier type of frame.
In the past few years polarised sunglasses have been developed which wrap around a person’s entire eye to help keep the sun’s rays from entering from the sides as well as over the top and the bottom of the glasses.
Polarised sunglasses have gone through a rating system in the past few years to alert people of the different type of protection a pair of sunglasses will give them. The rating system starts at zero and goes to four; however, this rating changes from country to country.
It is important for parents to take charge of their family’s health, and the health of their families eyes are no exception. Parents should make sure that their children wear the best polarised sunglasses that they can possibly get for their children.
This has been the history of sunglasses thought time. There will be many advancements in the near feature to help people better protect their eyes from the glare of the sun.