Having two different focal points or areas of focus, especially relating to eyeglasses with two lens powers for seeing both near and far.
From Latin 'bi-' (two) and 'focal,' from 'focus' (fireplace, center of attention). Coined in the late 19th century when Benjamin Franklin invented bifocal lenses.
Benjamin Franklin, one of history's most inventive minds, literally cut two lenses and put them in the same frame because he was tired of switching between two pairs of glasses—the bifocal was born from pure practical annoyance.
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