Dutchman Hans Lippershey was born in Wesel, Germany around 1570. He became an apprentice of a spectacle-maker, and discovered that if you have a tube with one fixed lens and one moveable eye lens, it is possible to see things at a distance much clearer. He patented his first telescope in 1608 and it was called "kijker" (viewer). News of his invention spread fast, and improved telescopes were developed by many people, including Galileo. Lippershey died around 1619 in Middelburg, the Netherlands.
