This past week I picked up a new set of spectacles for myself. After about a decade I actually changed styles too, and I am now sporting what I term as "brainy specs" or a smaller squarish black frame. This change in eye glasses got me to thinking about how styles in eye wear have change over the centuries.

If you are curious about this subject too you may just want to check out this website I found, which is devoted to Spectacles of Well Known People in History amongst other interesting factoid about glasses.

For instance did you know that dark green lensed eyeglasses were commonly used in the past to treat a symptom of syphilis? Apparently the tertiary stage of syphilis may present with various neurological manifestations, one of which is known as the Argyll-Robertson pupil where the pupil cannot get smaller in the presence of bright light. This produces a painful photophobia which is relieved by going into a dark area, or by putting on deeply tinted eyeglasses.

It is a fascinating website that gives us some insight into why, and what specs were used for, and by who in the past.