The magnificent past of RR Lyrae variables

We briefly review the results obtained by using the times of maximum brightness of RR Lyrae variables. They cover more than 120 years and have been used to study the evolutionary changes of the pulsational periods, the different shapes of the Blazhko effect among Galactic RRab stars, and the interplay between pulsational and Blazhko periods in the eponym of the class, RR Lyr. The data are stored in the GEOS database, continuously fed by contributions from professional and amateur astronomers.