When Were Contact Lenses Invented?

Nearly 400 years after Leonardo da Vinci laid out the science that would support them, the first wearable contact lenses were made, according to Glasses History. Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick, a German ophthalmologist, created a fitted lens in 1887. The first lenses weren’t for humans, though. He tested his new invention on rabbits before eventually trying them on himself and volunteers (via Glasses History).

Those lenses weren’t as practical as they needed to be, either. According to Glasses History, they were made of glass and couldn’t be worn for more than two or three hours at a time. From there, the process of refining the invention began as numerous inventors competed to create the best contact lens on the market (per All About Vision). Major advancements came in the mid-1900s, according to Glasses History, but it took until almost the year 2000 for the company CIBA VISION to perfect the lenses we know today.

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