
BIFOCALS
Franklin proved the old adage "Necessity is the Mother of Invention" with his creation of the bifocal lens. Unfortunate enough to both myopic (near-sighted) and hyperopic (far-sighted), Franklin was frustrated that he had to constantly switch his pairs of glasses, depending on what he was trying to focus on. He longed for the ability to see both near and far with a single frame. In order to accomplish this, Benjamin had the lenses of two pairs of spectacles cut in half and put half of each lens in one sole frame. Today, millions of individuals take advantage of Franklin's bifocals, giving people a convenient way in which to correct their vision for both distance and reading.

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