19 February 26

Ophthalmologist Herman Snellen (1834-1908) was born on 19 February. His work to measure his patients' visual acuity led to his creation of the Snellen Chart, in 1862. Since its inception, more copies of the Snellen Chart have been sold in the United States than any other poster. I have miniature eyeglasses on my tie clip!

27 February 24

Guess where eye went today!

25 January 23

January is National Eye Care Month, so I'm wearing my Snellen Eye Chart to inspire you to care for your eyes. Today marks the birthday of Johann Georg Klöppinger (1707-1786), of Pfungstadt, Germany. He and his wife Anna Margretha Schreiner (1710-1769) migrated to the American colonies in 1737, settling in the Pennsylvania "Dutch" countryside. They are (some of) my fifth-great-grandparents! They are the ancestors of everyone in America named Kleppinger or Clippinger or Klepinger -- except for more recent migrants like Renate Kloppinger of Tucson, AZ (one of my seventh cousins!). My tie clip for this special day holds a large K from my mother's jewelry.

19 January 22

January is "National Eye Care Month," on several very unofficial calendars. The American Academy of Ophthalmology lists special eye-related observances every month. Are you seeing clearly today? My Snellen eye chart tie will remind you to be sure to get your eyes checked regularly.

19 February 21

 Herman Snellen (1834-1908) was a Dutch ophthalmologist who introduced the Snellen chart to study visual acuity. He took over directorship of the Netherlands Hospital for Eye Patients, after Franciscus Donders, (I wonders who Franciscus Donders was.) 

19 February 20

Herman Snellen, the father of the most famous vision chart, was born on this date in 1834. As recorded in Wikipedia, "Herman Snellen was a Dutch ophthalmologist who introduced the Snellen chart to study visual acuity. He took over directorship of the Netherlands Hospital for Eye Patients (Nederlandsch Gasthuis voor Ooglijders), after Franciscus Donders. . . . He did research on astigmatism, glaucoma and other eye diseases as well as research on correction of visual acuity using eyeglasses and ophthalmological surgery." The structure of the Snellen chart has become a well-known meme for all sorts of messages and merchandise, as exemplified through this page at Pinterest. On a completely random other topic, today I picked up my reward t-shirt for recording over a million steps in 2019, in the EKU Employee Wellness program.

19 February 19

Happy Birthday, Herman Snellen! He lived from 1834 to 1908, and is best known for developing the eye chart for "visual acuity testing." Other people have framed other "eye charts" on the same theme.

19 February 18

How is your vision today? The man who designed the famous eye test chart, Herman Snellen, was born on this date in 1834. And here's your trivia-bit for today: Since its inception, more copies of the Snellen Chart have been sold in the United States than any other poster. (Wikipedia, citing an article in the Seattle Times from 9 August 1995.)

24 January 17

How many letters on my tie can you read? I have an appointment with my optometrist today, and so I'm hoping to amuse everyone at that office by bringing along my own eye chart. The man who developed the visual acuity chart was Herman Snellen (1834-908), an ophthalmologist at the Netherlands Hospital for Eye Patients. I have memories from my earliest childhood of frequent office visits with a wonderful ophthalmologist named Dr. Gaylord Ojers, so I'm very familiar with the Snellen chart -- though I can't claim to have memorized it. The giant letter E is particularly significant to me these days because it is grandson Nate's favorite letter to grab among our refrigerator magnets!

21 September 15

This is National Eye Health Week (in Great Britain). Can you read the letters on my Snellen Chart?

9 October 14

Today is "World Sight Day," sponsored by the World Health Organization's International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. My tie features the traditional "Snellen Chart." This link takes you to a page full of funny versions of the Snellen design. One of my favorites begins with the large letters AXYPBDC.

23 October 13

I get to see my eye doctor today! Yay for vision! The "Snellen" eye chart is named for the Dutch doctor Hermann Snellen. Today is also Mole Day (honored by chemists everywhere -- see yesterday's blog entry), and the date is noteworthy in arithmetic because 23-10=13.

12 May 13

On Mother's Day I am wearing this eye-opening tie my mother (-in-law) Wilma Wollenweber gave me last year.

13 January 13

Today's highly conspicuous "eye chart" tie was a Christmas gift. Its set of letters has no Y, and we don't know why. And so (as pointed out by son Jonathan) it is well suited to be worn on a day when "Why Not?" is the only suitable occasion. See what I mean?