Edwin Herbert Land was born on this day, May 7, in 1909. He is best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation. He invented inexpensive filters for polarizing light, a practical system of in-camera instant photography, and the retinex theory of color vision, among other things. His Polaroid instant camera went on sale in late 1948 and made it possible for a picture to be taken and developed in 60 seconds or less.

In the early years of the Cold War, Land played a major role in the development of photographic reconnaissance and intelligence gathering efforts.

In his laboratory he built giant studio cameras the size of bedroom closets that produced large format, 20 x 24 inch, prints. He gave photographers free access to these cameras in return for some of the prints they produced. Read more (Wikipedia).