Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts to a family of 17 children and two hard-working parents. He grew to become a master of many trades. Franklin was a printer, a publisher, a civic leader, a statesman and a scientist. Franklin vital figure in American history.
Benjamin Franklin created the first bifocals to wear. C. Hertel of Germany made the first bifocal test lens in 1716. It is doubtful that Franklin knew of Hertel’s test lens when he created actual, wearable bifocals. Franklin split two lenses of different strengths (one for far and one for near) and fused them together. Patients needed a certain amount of adjustment time to see properly through bifocals, but after that the results were excellent for the time period.
