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Benjamin Franklin is born
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706. -
Franklin Began to need glasses
Franklin had poor vision and began to need glasses in the 1730s -
Advertisement for spectacles
Franklin came out with his own advertisement for spectacles that was featured in the Philadelphia Gazette -
He always has his glasses
In the 1750s Franklin is described wearing glasses for seeing far distances. -
The birth of the bifocals
in the early 1760s Franklin discovered the idea of bifocals. -
Strange Spectacles
In 1764 a political cartoon came out that pictures Franklin wearing odd spectacles that most likely were the bifocals. -
Delayed delivery
In 1779 Mr. H. Sykes, an English optician living in Paris, with a business on the Place du Palais-Royale, wrote to Franklin on April 24, 1779 and explained why Franklin%u2019s order for his bifocals was taking so long, he was having trouble creating the eyeglasses. %u201CI should have sent your spectacles sooner, but in compliance with your favor of the 20th inst., have cut a second pair, in which I have been unfortunate for I broke and spoilt three glasses.%u201D -
Convience
In 1784 Franklin wrote to his close friend George Wattly.The letter had this quote from Benjamin Franklin explaining how convenient the bifocals are: %u201DI cannot distinguish a letter even of large print; but am happy in the invention of double spectacles, which serving for distant objects as well as near ones, make my eyes as useful to me as ever they were: If all the other defects and infirmities were as easily and cheaply remedied, it would be worth while for friends to live a good deal longer" -
The fist painting with the bifocals
In 1785 Charles Wilson Peale created panting of Benjamin Franklin and it is the only panting that has Benjamin Franklin Wearing the bifocals. The bifocals were the key aspect of the painting. -
From a portrait to a pair for himself
In 1788 Peale made a pair of bifocals for himself, as it is noted in his diary on August 25th. -
The bifocals debut in the medical industry
In 1790 Dr. William Rowley published the book: "A Treatise on One Hundred and Eighteen Principal Diseases" not even a year after Franklin%u2019s death. He quoted the May 23, 1785 letter to Whatley%u2026 %u201CA species of spectacles has been recommended by the late Dr. Franklin%u2026%u201D Therefore he was the first to acknowledge Franklin%u2019s invention in the medical industry. Also in his letter he said that he recommended double spectacles to some of his friends, %u201Cby whom they are highly approved.%u201D -
Benjamin Franklin's death
Benjmain Franklin lived a longer life for his time much longerthan the average person (thirty-five). Franklin may haved died but the bifocals are just being born into society! -
The general public learns about the bifocals
The general public first informed about Franklin%u2019s creation of bifocals in the August 1791 issue of Massachusetts Magazine. Lewis Leprelete wrote a letter to the editors of the magazine quoting the same May 23, 1785 letter from Franklin to Whatley announcing that %u201CA species of spectacles has been recommended by the late Dr. Franklin%u2026..as it is an important object, I have no doubt but you will be pleased to gratify the publick with it,%u2026%u201D -
The bifocals help more people including Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson, John McAllister Sr., and Charles Peale all communicated in a series of letters between 1806 and 1808 talking about the bifocals and how they hand been a great convenience. Thomas Jefferson wrote to Peale March 29, 1807 he noted had %u201Cadopted Dr. Franklin%u2019s plan of half glasses of different focal distances, with great advantage%u201D. He then wrote to McAllister on March 16, 1808 and explained how he was satisfied with the bifocals but the frames should be oval. -
Peale's sellf-portriat wearing bifocals
After Franklin had been dead for seventeen years (about 1807) Charles Wilson Peale painted a portrait of himself wearing bifocals. -
The inventor of the trifocals
The engineer and inventor of the trifocal in 1826, John Isaac Hawkins, coined the term bifocal in 1824 and gave Franklin the credit for the invention of the bifocals. -
Bifocals today
The bifocals continue to help people today. They provide people with the same convenience they provided for Franklin in the late 1700s.
