Did you know that reading glasses first appeared in Italy in the 1260's? Designed to "help the elderly to read," these were a godsend to those whose vision had become blurred due to age. Their popularity was instantaneous, and paintings from the time began to depict wearers in both religious and scholarly settings.

But the initial design had a huge problem: with only the bare basics of lenses and a nose bridge, there was no easy way to keep the darn things from slipping down the nose. You had to hold them in place, which limited their use. The Spaniards tried connecting them to ribbons looped around the ears, but that never really caught on. In fact, it wasn't until 1730-nearly 500 years after they were first introduced-that a London optician named Edward Scarlett finally devised the rigid sidepieces that rest atop the ears. The perfection spread rapidly, and is still in use today.

Benjamin Franklin is often credited with inventing glasses, but in fact he was the one who developed the bifocal lens in the 1780's, because he got tired of changing to reading glasses whenever he opened a book, which was often. He had his optician cut the lenses in two so he just had to look up and down instead of switching glasses. This is another revision that's still in use today.

So what's the difference between eyeglasses and spectacles? Today the terms are used interchangeably, but at the turn of the last century, there was a clear demarcation: "eyeglasses" was the word used to describe eyewear with no sidebar, while "spectacles" referred to frames with sidebars.

While the English and French in particular were very rigid in their opinion that glasses only be worn in private, the Spaniards believed that glasses made them look more important and dignified and they quickly became a popular accessory among all the classes. In fact, Spanish paintings from the Middle Ages show Moses, Jesus, and other biblical figures wearing glasses, to give them an added air of dignity.

But the Spanish were in the minority. The stigma of wearing spectacles lasted well into the 20th century. While Dorothy Parker proclaimed, in 1926, "Men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses," Marilyn Monroe's character Pola Debevoise preferred walking into walls to being seen in glasses in the 1953 movie "How To Marry a Millionaire."

So when did sunglasses make a splash? In 1929, when Sam Foster convinced a Woolworth store on the Atlantic City Boardwalk to sell his Foster Grants. They became popular in the 1930's when movie stars started to wear them.

So everyone put on their spectacles because our challenge this week is to create a pair of eyeglasses. Can you invent a better pair of eyeglasses or can you create the perfect pair of sunglasses? Only time will tell!

Barb	Barb	Becky
Birgit	Birgit	Boop

Candace	Jeri	Melissa
Melissa	Melissa	Melissa

Michael	Sam	Sam
Sharon