The history of the Ray-Ban Aviator dates back to the 1920s, when

new airplanes allowed people to fly higher and farther. Many US Army

Air Service pilots were reporting that the glare from the sun was giving

them headaches and altitude sickness. In 1929, US Army Air Corps 

Lieutenant General John MacCready asked Bausch & Lomb, a Rochester,

New York-based medical equipment manufacturer, to create aviation

sunglassesthat would reduce the headaches and nausea experienced by

pilots, which are caused by the intense blue and white hues of the sky,

a new kind of glasses were introduced. The prototype, created in 1936

and known as ‘Anti-Glare’, had plastic frames and green lenses that

could cut out the glare without obscuring vision. The sunglasses were

remodeled with a metal frame the following year and rebranded as the

'Ray-Ban Aviator'. On May 7, 1937, Bausch & Lomb took out the patent,

and the Aviator was born.

In 1939, Ray-Ban launched a new version of the aviator called the Outdoorsman. It was designed for specific groups such as hunting, shooting and fishing enthusiasts, and featured a top bar called a "sweat bar" that was designed to catch sweat from falling into the eyes. They also featured temple end pieces to distinguish it from the standard aviator. A few years later, in the 1940s, Gradient lenses were introduced. These were mirrored lenses which featured a special coating on the upper part of the lens for enhanced protection, but an uncoated lower lens for a clear view of the plane’s instrument panel.

In 1952, Ray-Ban created another classic style, the Ray-Ban Wayfarer, this time with plastic frames. They soon became popular in Hollywood, and can be seen on James Dean in 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause. The now-standard G-15 green and gray lenses were introduced a year after the Wayfarer, in 1953.

In 1965, the Olympian I and II were introduced; they became popular when Peter Fonda wore them in the 1969 film Easy Rider. In 1968, Ray-Ban released the Balorama, which was best known as Harry Callahan's sunglasses in the 1973 film Magnum Force.

The brand remained popular during the 60s and 70s, and gained popularity during the 1980s with cameos in the movies The Blues Brothers (1980), Risky Business (1983) andTop Gun (1986).

In the 90s, Ray-Ban came out with a series of innovation and sleek looking design shown in the series of the following models: Predators, Inertia, Prophecy, Gatsby, Sidestreet and Cutters.

During the late 90s, as rivals like Oakley gained popularity among younger customers, Ray-Ban started to struggle and, in 1999, owners Bausch & Lomb sold the brand to Italian eyewear company Luxottica for $640 million.