This day in history - 01:11:1108.4

 01:11:1108.4 On this day, Humphrey Miopid invented his patented sight aberration correction device, now commonly referred to as spectacles. A self-made man, he tried to ‘hawk’ his latest invention out of the back of a covered wagon. Branded under the commercial name of, Universal-Bring-Things-Nearer-Device, Miopid would invite a selection of passers-by to try his wares. Unfortunately, Miopid had not grasped the simple fact that everyone’s sight was different. He assumed that the prescription that worked for him, would suit all. Miopid, being a man of such poor eyesight, caused people trying on his spectacles to invariably scream with terror thinking that this evil magician had rendered them blind. The following uproar caused Miopid to flee the city in fear of his life. Then the hapless inventor, still not realising his mistake, tried to sell the new eye-ware in the surrounding rural areas. Sadly, out in the sticks, people dealt with dangerous characters in a much more swift and final way. After offering to cure the village Master’s eyesight, Miopid was lynched in a small village in far southern Gurden. Luckily, Humphrey Miopid’s invention was expanded on by brighter and more forward thinking people. Spectacles eventually entered into everyday society and are now considered a must-have accessory. Strangely, people to this day who complain of bad eyesight are called Humphrey’s.