The mirrors we have come to know and obsessively stare at today began in Germany about 200 years ago, but the very first reflective pieces got their start much earlier. According to vision scientist Dr. Jay Enoch wrote a review in the journal Optometry and Vision Science, people in Anatolia — modern-day Turkey — manufactured the first mirrors about 8,000 years ago from polished obsidian (volcanic glass). 

In Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and Egypt from 4000 to 3000 B.C mirrors began to appear, made out of polished copper. About 1,000 years later, around the world, people began developing their own versions of mirrors. In Central and South America began to create mirrors from polished stone, and Chinese and Indian mirror makers constructed them from bronze.

While throughout the ages each culture created their own version of the mirror, Dr. Enoch writes that nature was the true inventor, "The very first mirrors most probably were quiet pools of water and rock or clay containers of water." 

So what about the glass mirrors that have become the staple in every house and bathroom? Roman author Pliny the Elder alluded to the first glass mirror in his encyclopedia Natural History during the first century A.D, however, they did not fall into generalized use during this time. 

In 1835, German chemist Justus von Liebig developed the technique that would become the foundation for mass mirror production. His process was simple, apply a thin layer of metallic silver on one side of a clear glass pane. Liebig's innovation was soon adapted and improved upon paving the way for some truly unique designs.