The Inuit and Yupik people carved Inuit snow goggles from caribou antler, wood, and shell to help prevent snow blindness. The goggles were curved to fit the user's face and had a large groove cut in the back to allow for the nose. A long thin slit was cut through the goggles to allow in a small amount of light, diminishing subsequent ultraviolet rays. It was held to the head by a cord made of caribou sinew.

Around 1930, goggles were worn by drivers of uncovered cars to prevent irritation of the eyes by dust or wind. Likewise in the first ten years after the invention of the airplane in 1903 goggles became a necessity as wind blow became more severe as aircraft speeds increased and as protection against bugstrikes at high altitudes. The first pilot to wear goggles was probably Charles Manly in his failed attempt to fly Samuel Langley's aerodrome in 1903.

The First Safety Goggle called SANIGLAS was developed by Julius King Optical Company in collaboration with American Optical in 1909.

In 1914, Garrett Morgan (1877-1963) an African American patented the Gas Mask, a mask which had a lens made from safety glass. On July 25, 1916, Morgan made national news for using a gas mask he had invented to rescue several men trapped during an explosion in an underground tunnel beneath Lake Erie. After the rescue, Morgan’s company received requests from fire departments around the country who wished to purchase the new masks. The Morgan gas mask was later refined for use by U.S. Army during World War I. In 1921, Morgan was awarded a patent for a Safety Hood and Smoke Protector. Two years later, a refined model of his early gas mask won a gold medal at the International Exposition of Sanitation and Safety, and another gold medal from the International Association of Fire Chiefs.