Kaleidoscope

"Kaleidoscope" is derived from the Ancient Greek καλός (kalos), "beautiful, beauty",[2] εἶδος (eidos), "that which is seen: form, shape"[3] and σκοπέω (skopeō), "to look to, to examine",[4] hence "observation of beautiful forms." (wikipedia.org)

Some time ago, in 1817 to be exact, Scottish inventor Sir David Brewster took a cylinder, put some mirrors inside and then threw in loose, colored objects such as beads or pebbles and bits of glass. He looked inside and saw the light entering from the other end creating a colourful pattern due to the reflection of the mirrors inside. Well, I guess the story went something like that.. If you really want to know the 'deets'... ask wikipedia