At 6th century BC cataract surgery by couching was first described by Susruta, the renowned Indian surgeon. Couching made patients aphakic but with partial visual restoration. Till mid-eighteenth century couching was the standard procedure. On 8th April 1747 Jacques Daviel used a small knife and scissors extracted the lens. In 1752, Daviel published his results on 206 patients in whom he successfully removed cataracts via corneal incisions with 88% success rate. Tadini, an Italian oculist regularly performed eye surgeries at many places throughout Europe. Tadini first conceived the innovative idea of intra-ocular lens for correction of aphakia. Joannis Virgilius Casaamata, an Italian tried to insert a glass lens underneath cornea to correct aphakia. The idea was soon abandoned. However the idea of implanting a tolerable and technically feasible intra-ocular lens was the revolution in cataract surgery. Later Dr Ridley succeeded with the support of Mr John Pike, the senior optical specialist about designing and manufacturing an implantable lens from polymethyl methacrylate for placement in the eye for aphakia correction. Ridley in 1949-50 refined cataract surgery with intra-ocular implants. Dr Warren S Reese was the first American who performed intra-ocular lens implant in the United States in 1952. Cataract extraction surgery with intra-ocular lens implantation is now the commonest type of eye surgery.