| Circa 3100 BC |
Glass beads from around
this date were found in Egypt and are the earliest glass
artefacts found. |
| 1500 BC
|
Small glass articles
made from moulds have been found from this period in
Egypt and Syria. |
650 BC
|
The first glass manual
on tablets was made in Assyria around this date. |
| Circa 1 AD |
A metal blowpipe
for glass production was introduced around this date
in the Babylon region. This has remained virtually
unchanged over the last 2000 years.
Glass had also arrived
in Rome by 1 AD. |
| 100 AD |
The Romans start using
cast glass in windows. Their empire also facilitated
the trade in glass and the spread of the glass making
industry. |
| 680 |
Glassmakers arrive in
Britain from Gaul. |
| Circa 1000 |
Up until this time,
soda ash was used to make glass but, in Northern Europe,
this was replaced by potash.
During this century
a technique was discovered for making sheet glass. |
| 1291 |
Glassmaking is established
on the Venetian island of Murano. |
| Circa 1500 |
Venetian glassmakers
developed the clear, colourless Cristallo glass, made
using quartz sand and potash obtained from sea plants. |
| 1575 |
Jacopo Verzelini was
brought to England from Venice to improve the quality
of glass in a London glassworks. He was granted a patent
by Elizabeth I to produce it in the Murano style. |
| Circa 1600 |
Prague glassmaker Caspar
Lehman used the techniques of cutting rock crystal to
glass. He also founded a school for training glass engravers. |
| 1608 |
Settlers in Jamestown
make the first American glass. |
| 1615 |
Coal furnaces are introduced
in England because wood burning is forbidden. |
| Circa 1670 |
Bohemian glassmakers
start using lime potash to produce a clear but strong
glass for wheel engraving. |
| 1674 |
English glassmaker George
Ravenscroft patents his new lead crystal glass. |
| 1688 |
In France, Lucas
Nehou invented a technique of castind and rolling
to make plate glass for mirrors.
The French government
offers incentives to Venetian glassmakers to go to
France to improve the quality of their glass while
imposing heavy duties on imported glass. |
| 1739 |
Caspar Wispar established
the first successful American glassworks in near Alloway,
Salem County. |
| 1773 |
Polished plate glass
glassworks established at Ravenshead in Englands. |
| 1827 |
Glass pressing machine
is patented in America.
More mechanised methods
are introduced into glassmaking as the industrial
revolution gathers pace. |
| 1851 |
Crystal Palace is built
in Hyde Park, London. |
| Circa 1900 |
American Michael Owens
invents an automatic glass blowing machine. |
A History of Glass Timeline