when was the telescope invented

The first practical telescope appeared in the Netherlands in 1608 , when Dutch spectacle maker Hans Lipperhey submitted a patent for a “spyglass”-type refracting instrument that made distant objects appear closer.

Quick Scoop: Fast Facts

• The telescope as we know it dates to 1608 in the Netherlands.

• The earliest documented device was shown by Hans Lipperhey , a spectacle maker in Middelburg.

• In 1609 , Galileo Galilei built his own improved version and turned it toward the night sky, making famous astronomical discoveries.

• The word “telescope” was introduced a bit later, around 1611 , by the mathematician Giovanni Demisiani (from Greek for “far-seeing”).

So, while people experimented with lenses earlier, the telescope is generally said to have been invented in 1608 , with no single universally agreed “sole” inventor.

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