One of the earliest forms of glass was naturally occurring obsidian. It was used for weaponry and tools during the Stone Age. Since the material was highly localized in occurrence, obsidian was widely traded. The practice of trading glass led to many myths about true manufactured glass origins. It was once bandied that a merchant ship laden with nitrum moored at the site of the Belus River, when the sailors were preparing to have lunch they discovered there was nothing to prop their pots on. Instead, they used the chunks of nitrum from the ship. When this melted, into the sand, a rivulet of clear liquid was formed and thus glass was born. However, it has been determined by archaeological findings that the first manufactured glass was made in Old World Egypt. The earliest pieces made from glass were beads and there is a high probability that these were accidentally created during metalworking. The process once discovered would continue to spread.



The invention of glassblowing was nothing less than a revolution in glassmaking. Babylonian craftsmen deserve credit for popularizing the technique, although evidence of blown glass exists dating from as early as 50 BC. This is a technique of working with glass which has stayed largely unchanged since antiquity.

Venice became the center of glassmaking in the 1200s. It is likely that Venetians learned the techniques of glassmaking from travelers from the east, since Venice was an important stop on trade routes. Interest in glassmaking grew quickly, as did glassmaking technology. Venetians kept their processes a closely guarded secret, even to the extent of prohibiting their craftsmen from leaving lest they give away trade secrets. Eventually, a glassmaker did leave, bringing his knowledge to England.

Jacopo Verzelini was this glassmaker, who came to England in 1575 and brought great advances to English glassmaking. Queen Elizabeth granted Verzelini a patent for the Murano process of glassmaking. These techniques were then taken to the Americas by colonists, with the first American glass being produced in Jamestown, Virginia in 1608.

The processes used in glass making were refined over the years, with lacing and crown glass being commonly used in the U.S. The industrial revolution brought great improvements in glassmaking, with new machinery which made mass production possible. We often take glass for granted now, as well as the protection it offers us from heat and cold, rain and snow. And of course, without glass windows, we wouldn't have the options of different window coverings to enliven our homes like vertical blinds.