953 nut 66,001 #1 Posted 1 hour ago May 23, 1785, Benjamin Franklin reveals his design for what would later be called bifocal glasses. The Pennsylvania inventor, printer, author, diplomat and American Founding Father had grown tired of alternating between two different pairs of glasses to help his near or far vision. So, he came up with an idea to, quite literally, split the difference. Franklin is widely credited as the inventor of bifocals. 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites