Clarification regarding the statement,
"Wycliffe...was also the inventor of bifocal eyeglasses"
from the article "The History of the English Bible" ¹

[As] Much as many people think Henry Ford invented the automobile (he only invented assembly-line automobile production)... and people think the Wright Brothers invented the airplane (sorry patriots... the Russians beat us to that one, too)... people also believe that bifocal eyeglasses were not invented until the LATE 1700's by Ben Franklin.

Franklin improved on their quality, and made them fashionable.

By the late 1700's technology was considerably advanced, as shown in the amazing complexities of watches and clocks of that time period. fashioning a simple glass lens with TWO focal points was hardly groundbreaking for that time.

Wycliffe invented that concept in the late 1300's.

I'm sorry... but we wrote that article eight years ago, and I am not currently able to provide you with bibliographical data to support this assertion, without doing considerable research to find the original source documents.

Best Wishes,

John Jeffcoat

1. The above clarification was necessary because many people have questioned whether Wycliffe or Ben Franklin should be credited for the invention of bifocals.