German-Dutch lensmaker Hans Lippershey is credited with…

German-Dutch lensmaker Hans Lippershey is credited with creating and disseminating designs for the first practical telescope.

Some telescopes and spyglasses may have been created much earlier, but Lippershey is believed to be the first to apply for a patent for his design, a few weeks before Jacob Metius, and making it available for general use in 1608.

He fails to receive a patent but is handsomely rewarded by the Dutch government for copies of his design.

The "Dutch perspective glass", the telescope that Lippershey has invented, can only magnify thrice.

Lippershey's application for a patent is mentioned at the end of a diplomatic report on an embassy to Holland from the Kingdom of Siam sent by the Siamese king Ekathotsarot: Ambassades du Roy de Siam envoyé à l'Excellence du Prince Maurice, arrivé à La Haye le 10 Septemb. 1608 (Embassy of the King of Siam sent to his Excellency Prince Maurice, arrived on September 10, 1608).

This report is issued in October 1608 and distributed across Europe, leading to experiments by other scientists.

One story behind the creation of the telescope states that two children were playing with lenses in the Lippershey's shop.

The children discovered that images were clearer when seen through two lenses, one in front of the other.

Lippershey was inspired by this and created a device very similar to today's telescope.