April 4, 2023

"9 Surprising Moments in the History of Sunglasses."

At Science Museum.

#1 is "Emperor Nero's Emerald":

In his work Natural History, Pliny the Elder described how the Roman Emperor Nero would watch gladiator matches through an emerald. This has been considered by some as a rather opulent, if a bit ambiguous, account of a precursor to sunglasses. Some speculate that this was because Nero was near-sighted or that it was meant to shield the Sun’s glare....

You might think I'm reading this because of my own surprising moment having to do with sunglasses, a few posts down, here. But no, Nero's emerald came up in the "Car Tongs" episode of "The Frank Skinner Show" podcast, which I've been bingeing on lately. 

5 comments:

Kate said...

The greatest glassmakers in the world invented colored sunglasses. Makes sense.

Leora said...

I want those Goldoni glasses in my prescription.

Kevin said...

I see nothing about ZZ Top wearing cheap sunglasses or Corey Hart wearing them at night.

re Pete said...

"I got my dark sunglasses

I got for good luck my black tooth

I got my dark sunglasses

I’m carryin’ for good luck my black tooth

Don’t ask me nothin’ about nothin’

I just might tell you the truth"

typingtalker said...

Has there ever been an Ann Althouse post with fewer comments? Currently five including this one.