A Brief History of Glass
While the origin of glass is not completely known, archeological
discoveries suggest that the first tiny pieces of glass were created
in the eastern Mediterranean regions around 50 B.C. Glass later
gained great importance in the Roman Empire where the once highly
regarded commodity was available to only the wealthy. Thanks to
the development of glass blowing, glass became more accessible to
everyone.
Glass was originally created by mixing sand and sodium carbonate
in pre-made "blank" molds similar to those used in creating
pottery. The glass was kept in a liquid state using wood-burning
furnaces heated to more than 1,000 degrees. History shows that glassmakers
often moved from one area to another to find and deplete available
supplies of wood to keep those hot furnaces working!
In days of old, glass was ground to shape using stones, sand and
water. Nowadays, glass fabrication is achieved using state-of-the-art
technology guaranteeing a precision never dreamed by the glassmakers
of ancient days!
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