History says that Nero Claudius Caesar was the one who created the necessary prerequisites for the appearance of sunglasses' prototype. It is believed that the Roman emperor liked to watch gladiator fights through polished gems.
However, sunglasses were first used in China in the 12th century or even earlier. The "lenses" of those sun glasses represented flat panes of sooty rock crystal, therefore had no correctional power. Such sunglasses were worn only for eye's protection purpose, as from damaging and intolerable sun glare. Also, according to some well-placed sources sunglasses served as a shield from evil spirits. Contemporary writings describe the use of such sun glasses by judges in Chinese courts as a protection, which offered them to keep secret their facial expressions while questioning witnesses.
James Ayscough, eyeglass designer, started using tinted lenses in spectacles in the middle of 18th century. Only around 1752, Ayscough discovered that white lenses caused irreparable harm to eye's retina, thus he advised the use of green and blue glasses, which had power to correct vision problems. As a consequence, it is considered that Ayscough glasses were the first real sunglasses. Sam Foster was that man who sold the first pair of sunglasses at the Woolworth on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. But sunglasses' peak of popularity started only in the 1930s.
However, polarized sunglasses started to be manufactured only after Edwin H. Land had invented the first modern filters to polarize light. In 1936 Land began to use numerous types of Polaroid material in sunglasses and other optical devices.
