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DATE

EVENT
1508: Leonardo da Vinci first conjures up ideas of lenses on the cornea to correct vision.
1632: Rene Descartes of France suggests the contact lens.
1801: Thomas Young develops Descartes' idea -- a quarter-inch-long, water-filled glass tube, the outer end containing a microscopic lens -- and uses it to correct his own vision.
1827: English astronomer Sir John Herschel suggests filing down a contact lens to conform exactly to the eye's surface.
1887: Glassblower F.E. Muller of Wiesbaden, Germany, produces the first eye covering designed to be seen through and tolerated.
1888: Two independent researchers, A. Eugen Fick, a Swiss physician, and Paris optician Edouard Kalt, at about the same time give reports of successful correction of vision.
1929: Joseph Dallos, a Hungarian physician, perfects methods of taking molds from living eyes so that lenses can be made to conform more closely to individual sclera.
1936: William Feinbloom, a New York optometrist, fabricates the first American- made contact lenses and introduces the use of plastic.
1945: The American Optometry Association (AOA) formally recognizes the growing contact lens field by specifying contact lens fitting as an integral part of the practice of optometry.
1950: Dr. George Butterfield, an Oregon optometrist, designs a corneal lens, the inner surface of which follows the eye's shape instead of sitting flat.
1960: Otto Wichterle and Drahoslav Lim experiment with contact lenses made of a soft, water-absorbing plastic they developed.
1971: The soft lens became available for commercial distribution in the United States.
1978: The first toric contact lens was approved for distribution in the United States.
1979: The first rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lens made of copolymers PMMA and silicone became available for commercial distribution. Many silicone- acrylate lenses are now available.
1980: A tinted daily wear soft lens became available for commercial distribution.
1981: Extended wear soft lenses became available for commercial distribution.
1982: Bifocal daily wear soft contact lenses became available for commercial distribution.
1983: The first tinted RGP lens became available for commercial distribution.
1986: An extended wear RGP lens became available for commercial distribution.
1987: Disposable soft contact lenses became available for commercial distribution. A soft contact lens to change eye color became available for commercial distribution. First multipurpose lens care product made available for commercial distribution.

A new formulation of fluorosilicone acrylate material for RGP lenses became available for commercial distribution.

1991: Planned replacement contact lenses now available on the market.

Daily-wear two-week replacement lenses now available on the market.

1992: Disposable tinted contact lenses available on the market.
1995: Daily disposable lenses available on the market; RGP lenses with low silicone content / high Dk fluorosilicone acrylates became available.
1996: First disposable lenses using ultra-violet absorber are available in the US
1998: First multifocal disposable soft lenses available.
1999 New generation extended-wear soft lenses introduced

 

Sources:

Contactlenses.co.uk, "Contact lenses on line." www.contactlenses.co.uk - (This is a great site! We pulled lots of information and ideas from here!)

Corinna Wu, "More Comfortable Contact Lenses," Consumer Research Vol. 83, No. 4, pg. 20

Jan Lewis, "Open Your Eyes... to Contact Lenses," Current Health 2 Vol. 13, No. 1, pg. 12

University of Missouri, St. Louis, "Contact Lens Historical Development," www.umsl.edu/~optebenn/CL1history.html

University of Tenn., Memphis, "History of eyeglasses." www.eye.utmem.edu/history/glass.html

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