“[Glass] was probably accidentally discovered by Egyptian or Mesopotamian potters while they were firing their wares. The first glass was in the form of a glaze, a mixture of sand and minerals fused onto the surface of stone or ceramic objects in an oven, producing a hard, shiny, outer layer. Later it was found that if the glaze were thick enough, it would stand by itself—the first solid glass. . . . Glass beads were highly prized in the ancient East. Some were mounted in gold, like precious stones—and some have even been used, in parts of the world, as money.”

—from The Corning Glass Center, published by Corning Glass Works in 1958.