Hans Lippershey, was a Dutch inventor of the 16th century, most commonly

associated with the invention of the worlds first telescope

Born in Wesel, West Germany in 1570, Lippershey moved to the prosperous city of
Middleburg in Netherlands in 1594.
He was a spectacle maker by profession and set up his own shop in Zeeland, and
became a master as an expert lens grinder.
How the idea of the invention of the telescope came to Lippershey is not clearly
known:
According to one version of events, Lippershey observed two children playing with
optical lenses in his shop and the children commented during their play that a far
away object seemed much closer when viewed through two lenses placed one on top
of the other.
Nevertheless, Hans Lippershey applied for a 30 year patent to the States General of
the Netherlands on October 2, 1608. He described his instrument (which he titled
looker) as useful for seeing far away objects as if they were close to us.
As an alternative to the patent, Lippershey demanded an annual pension and in
exchange he offered not to sell his invention to foreign kings.
The Dutch government rejected it because would be easy to copy and therefore could
not be kept a secret, for which service they rewarded him handsomely with the sum
of 900 florins.
At almost the same time, another inventors claimed recognition for the same
invention, Jacob Metius, Sacharias Janssen in a period of three weeks.
It is not known who is actually the first inventor, yet Lippersheys patent application
is the first documented record of the invention of such an instrument.
Recent new investigations published in a british magazine History today this invent
is attributed to spaniard Juan Roget in 1590.
The ideas contained in it led to further experiments by other scientists, notably the
Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, who is widely credited with improving and
popularizing the telescope.
Hans Lippershey died in Middleburg, Netherlands in 1619 at the age of 50.
A lunar crater Lippershey and the minor planet 31338 Lipperhey are named after
him.