On March 6, 1787, German optician and physicist Joseph Fraunhofer - later enobled Ritter von Fraunhofer - was born. He is known for the discovery of the dark absorption lines known as Fraunhofer lines in the Sun's spectrum, and for making excellent optical glass and achromatic telescope objectives. Moreover, he is the name giver for the German Fraunhofer Society for the advancement of applied research.