ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST
1
{label}{start:date}{end:date}{description:single}{image:url}{cat}{initials}
2
The Beginnning of Cryptography-2000"It is believed that the oldest known text to contain one of the essential components of cryptography, a modification of the text, occurred some 4000 years ago in the Egyptian town of MENET KHUFU where the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the tomb of the nobleman KHNUMHOTEP II were written with a number of unusual symbols to confuse or obscure the meaning of the inscriptions" (Cypher Research Laboratories Pty. Ltd)http://library.thinkquest.org/28005/flashed/timemachine/courseofhistory/hierogly.jpgCiphersAFT
3
Spartan Scytale-0500"The scytale is a wooden staff around which a strip of leather or parchment is wound. [...] THe sender writes the message along the length of the scytale, and then unwinds the strip, which now appears to carry a list of meaningless letters. The message has been scrambled. [...] To recover the message, the receiver simply wraps the leather strip around a scytale of the same diameter as the one used by the sender." (Singh 8-9)http://global.mitsubishielectric.com/misty/tour/stage1/image/qetimg_02.gifMilitaryAFT
4
Kryptos Sculpture Dedicated in Langley1990-11-03Coded sculpture, "Kryptos," created by Jim Sanborn was installed at the CIA headquarters as a challenge to CIA employees. The code consists of four parts, three of which have been deciphered to date. The remaining part has become famous as one of the greatest unsolved codes in the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryptoshttp://michaelgr.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/cia-kryptos-sculpture-01.jpgUnsolvedCSH
5
German ADFGVX cipher (introduced and deciphered)1918-03-051918-06-02A cross between a substitution and a transposition cipher, the ADFGVX cipher was thought to be the most secure means of communication at the time. The German military used it in their offensive, but it took only a few months for frenchman Georges Painvin of the Bureau de Chiffre to decode it.http://www.cientificosaficionados.com/foros/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10976&start=0&sid=8412c9ef0dac1c3bce741d899c7afa83CiphersCSH
6
Traicte de Chifres1586"A Treatise for Secret Writing," published by Vigenere.http://www.csiargentina.com/saberhistoria/?tag=espionajeCultureCSH
7
Victor Gendren unearthed letters enciphered with the Great Cipher1890While researching Louis XIV of France, Gendren discovered these letters, which would become instrumental in breaking the Great Cipher because there was much more ciphertext available.http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/L6713.htmlPeopleCSH
8
Vigenere's <i>Traicte des Chiffres</i>1586Blaise de Vigenere published his "Treatise on Secret Writing" in 1586, leading to the Vigenere cipher being named after him. (Singh, p. 51)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Vigenere.jpgCiphersDOB
9
Zimmerman Telegram Intercepted1917-01-17Arthur Zimmerman's telegram to the German Ambassador to Mexico was intercepted by the British Room 40. (Singh, p. 107)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Ztel1b.jpgMilitaryDOB
10
Babbage Cracks the Vigenere1854Charles Babbage likely developed his technique for deciphering the Vigenere cipher this year in response to a challenge from John Hall Brock Thwaits. (Singh, p. 67)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/CharlesBabbage.jpgCiphersDOB
11
Edgar Allen Poe's "The Gold Bug"1843Edgar Allen Poe published "The Gold Bug," which featured a description of frequency analysis. (Singh, p. 81)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/The_Gold_Bug_Herpin.JPG/426px-The_Gold_Bug_Herpin.JPGCultureDOB
12
World War II19391945Germany invaded Poland in 1939, beginning the Second World War. The war was over in 1945 when the United States dropped nuclear bombs on Japan.MilitaryDOB
13
Rossignol team become the prominent French cryptanalysts1626By decoding a letter sent within the Huguenot army, the French are able to defeat them without shots fired. The city of Realmont is saved.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Rossignol,_Antoine.jpgMilitaryE.B.
14
First description of a telegraph machine1753An anonymous letter in a Scottish magazine describes how messages can be sent by 26 cables, one for each letter of the alphabet. The sender could spell out the message by sending pulses of electricity along each wire.TechnologyE.B.
15
"Pekinese Dogs" dispatched by Napoleon1798Napoleon Bonaparte sent a team of historians, scientists and draftsmen to follow the French invading army and record everything they witnessed.PeopleE.B.
16
Rosetta Stone discovered1799While demolishing a wall, soldiers stationed at Fort Julien in Rosetta found a tablet that was essentially a cryptanalytic crib. It contained the same text written three times, once in Greek, once in demotic, and once in hieroglyphics. http://liology.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/rosetta-stone.jpegCultureE.B.
17
Precis du systeme hieroglypique is published.1824Champollion publishes his book that details his work hierolgyphics. It was now possible to read the histories of the Pharoahs as written by the scribes and to translate any hieroglyphics that Egyptian historians encountered. This work also lead to the interpretation of the demotic and heratic languages.http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YVDHBNDTL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpgCulture, PeopleE.B.
18
Linear B tablets discovered on Crete1900-03-31Sir Arthur Evans discovers a vast collection of tablets on Crete, proving his theory that the Mycean civilization was literate and had developed a written language. The most advanced and recent category of tablets (the collection was divided into three categories based on date and sophistication) dated from 1450 to 1375 B.C. and was dubbed Linear B because of the linear nature of the script.http://www.utexas.edu/courses/mooreworldlit/troyimages/linearb.jpgCulture, PeopleE.B.
19
"Evidence for the Greek Dialect of the Mycean Archives" is published in The Jounal of Hellenic Studies1953The work is a combined effort of the knowledge of Greek and decipherment held by Ventris and Chadwick. In it, they propose that Linear B is actually written in Greek, revolutionizing the way historians view the Mycean/Minoan history. From this, many have hypothesized that Linear A is written in a Minoan language that was transformed into Linear B when the Myceans conquered the Minoans. Culture, PeopleE.B.
20
Moriss discovers the Beale ciphers1845Moriss, the innkeeper whom Beale entrusted his locked box of ciphers, finally opened the box after 23 years in 1845 when he could safely assume that Beale was dead and never returning to reclaim the box. Inside he found three pages of numbers and one sheet of plain English indicating that another message was on its way with the key. The key never made it to Moriss, and since the opening of the box, cryptanalysts have spent lifetimes trying to decipher the three pages of text that supposedly lead to a treasure Beale accumulated in an expedition out West. Only one page has ever been deciphered. The Declaration of Independence was used as a key.UnsolvedE.B.
21
Life of Charles Babbage1791-12-261871-10-18Charles Babbage, famous for deciphering the vigenere cipher and the creation of the analytical machine, was born on December 12 1791 and died on October 18 1871.http://www.oldcomputers.arcula.co.uk/files/images/hist301t.jpgPeopleJFH
22
Life of Al Kindi08010873Al Kindi, creator of frequency analysis, was born Abū Yūsuf Yaʻqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Kindī. He was born in Iraq and contributed greatly to the fields of Mathematics, Philosophy, Music, Medicine, Astrology, Chemistry, Physics, and Psychology.http://www.mendaki.org.sg/content_images/alkindi2.gifPeopleJH, TRS
23
Arrest of Bernardo Provenzano2006Berrnardo Provenzano, mafia "godfather" was arrested after using a type of Caesar shift cipher in order to encrypt his messages. "A" would be written as 4, "B" would be written as 5 etc. http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00401/SNF08CODESPD-682_401539a.jpgPeopleJH, TRS
24
La Cryptographie militaire1883Dutchman Auguste Kerckhoffs' treatise "La Cryptographie militarie" was an excellent guide and tool for the French with insights into the principles of cryptanalysis. His ideas were implimented into French military tactics on an "industrial scale"MilitaryJJO
25
History of the First World War published by British Royal Navy1923Restated the fact that interception and cryptanalysis of German communication during World War I aided the Allies in their efforts against the Central PowersMilitaryJPZ
26
Kama-Sutra written0300Text written by a Brahmin scholar named Vatsyayana who recommended that women should study 64 arts, including the art of secret writing. Specific techniques, such as random letter pairing are cited.CultureJPZ
27
Lives of the Caesars LVI written by Suetonius0100This text provided a description of some of the cryptographic techniques used by Julius Caesar during his Gallic campaigns. The Caesar shift is a cipher in which the plain alphabet is shifted x number of spaces over in the alphabet, moving every corresponding letter the same amount of spaces away from their original position.http://questgarden.com/62/15/1/080310122438/images/julius_caesar_statue.jpgMilitaryJPZ
28
Jefferson's Wheel Cypher1790The invention, by Thomas Jefferson, of a mechanical wheel cypher to encipher messages. The wheel cypher consisted of a number of disks with an alphabet enscribed on their outer edge about a center axis. The disks could be rotated about to form different messages. (Barr, 15)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Jefferson%27s_disk_cipher.jpg/320px-Jefferson%27s_disk_cipher.jpgCiphers, PeopleJPZ
29
Bazeries Reproduces Wheel Cypher1890Etienne Bazeries independently reproduced Jefferson's wheel cypher. His reproduction, often called the Bazeries Cylinder, followed the Jeffersonian model very closely. It also served as a future model for similar ciphers during the world wars. (Barr, 16)http://www.quadibloc.com/crypto/images/baz.gifCiphers, PeopleJPZ
30
Parker Hitt Designs Strip Cipher1916Based on the previous models developed by Jefferson and Bazeries, Hitt was able to adapt this cipher for military use. The M-138 strip cipher was one of the first ciphers used by the Americans during the interwar period and was eventually modified for use later in the war. It greatly improved the Americans encrypting abilities and helped provide an advantage, for a time, during World War II.http://www.vectorsite.net/ttcode_05_02.jpgCiphers, People, MilitaryJPZ
31
Marconi invents the radio1894Marconi found that he could transmit information wirelessly across short distances and patented the idea in 1896. He continued to increase the distance that his wireless communications could travel, ultimately reaching over 3500 km. His invention revolutionized military communication and increased the need for secure encryption.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Guglielmo_Marconi.jpg/225px-Guglielmo_Marconi.jpgTechnologyMHG
32
Black chamber is disbanded19291929Herbert Hoover is elected president and disbands the black chamber, the American cipher bureau that had been established following WWI. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Herbert_Hoover.jpg/245px-Herbert_Hoover.jpgMilitaryMHG
33
Origin of the Telegraph17531839Letter in a Scottish magazine described a system that would later be called the Wheatstone-Cooke system, which was essentially a way of sending messages across cables, a primitive version of the telegraph.http://www.connected-earth.com/galleries/Telecommunicationsage/Thetelegraph/Thetelegraphicagedawns/index.htmTechnologyPAB, CSH
34
Difference Engine #1 designed1823Frustrated by many errors in mathematical tables, Babbage designed the difference engine number one to calculate values accurately.TechnologyPAB
35
Americans decipher crucial Purple message1942-06American cryptanalysts were able to decipher a message encoded using Purple, the Japanese cipher machine. The message outlined a plan by the Japanese to stage an attack on the Aleutian Islands to lure defences away from their true objective, Midway Island. With this intelligence, the Americans gained the element of surprise and were able to rout the Japanese.http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/web/070918-F-1234S-005.jpgCiphers, MilitaryRCR
36
First Navajo Code Talkers trained1942-051942-07Navajo was found to be ideal for use as a military code. This was because it was a member of the Na-Dene family of languages, which has no connection to any Asian or European languages, and also because it had not been studied by German students. Within four months of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 29 Navajo men began an eight-week communications course with the U.S. Marine Corps. By the end of 1942, there was a request for 83 more. Over the course of the war, as many as 420 Navajo served as Code Talkers.http://blog.longnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Navajo_Code_Talkers1.jpgCiphers, Military, PeopleRCR
37
Navajo code declassified1968The Navajo were recognized as soldiers following the war, but their role in securing communications remained classified until the year 1968. Finally, they were given the full recognition and honor they deserved for their contribution to the Allied victory in World War II.http://www.lapahie.com/Pictures/NavajoCodeTalker_Silver_Medal_F_Face.jpgMilitary, PeopleRCR
38
August 14 named "National Navajo Code Talkers Day"1982The U.S. government dedicated August 14 as a day to recognize the work of the Navajo Code Talkers.http://americanhonor.bizland.com/store/media/navajo_code_FB.jpgMilitary, PeopleRCR
39
Persian fleet defeated at Bay of Salamis-0480Demaratus warned the Greeks of an impending Persian attack using steganography. He wrote on wooden tablets and then covered the tablets in wax to conceal the message. Thanks to him, the Greeks were able to prepare and defeat the Persian fleet.http://www.rankopedia.com/CandidatePix/29026.gifMilitaryRCR, TBM
40
al-Kindi's treatise rediscovered1987al-Kindi's treatise, "A Manuscript on Deiphering Cryptographic Messages" is found detailing his cryptanalysis techniqueshttp://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/page_from_AlKindi_book.JPGPeopleRL, DPC
41
Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe1391This treatise includes several encrypted paragraphs replacing plain text with symbols.http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Andrews-HistoricBywaysAndHighways/063-Geoffrey-Chaucer-q75-450x500.jpgPeopleRL, DPC
42
Conan Doyle's "The Dancing Men"1903Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story, "The Adventure of the Dancing Men," features a substitution cipher that uses stick figures that appear to be dancing. In the story, the cipher is developed and used by Chicago gangsters. Steganography is also employed here, as the symbols are meant to be passed over as merely children's drawings. As there was no pattern to the cipher, Holmes had to resort to frequency analysis and context clues (such as the name of the messages' recipient) to crack it. "The Dancing Men" remains one of the most popular Holmes stories, ranking in the top ten according to both the Baker Street Irregulars and Conan Doyle himself. (Bantam Classic's <i>Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume I</i> p. 806-831, <i>The Baker Street Journal</i> December 1999 p. 5-11) http://www.smiling-dolphin.com/blog_images/dancing_man.gifCultureRML
43
Bazeries breaks the Great Cipher18901893Étienne Bazeries deciphered several documents belonging to Louis XIV that were encrypted with the Rossignols' Great Cipher. The documents seem to refer to the fabled Man in the Iron Mask, but their veracity is the subject of some debate. (Singh, p. 54-56)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/89/Great_Cipher.png/618px-Great_Cipher.pngCiphersRML
44
Beale Pamphlets Published1885Three ciphers, supposedly containing the location of a large store of treasure, were published in a pamphlet. Allegedly, Thomas Beale buried treasure near Lynchburg, VA. To this day, there has been no report of the treasure being found and only one of the ciphers has been deciphered (using the Declaration of Independence as a "book cipher." (Singh p. 82)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Beale_Papers.gifUnsolvedSTM
45
Rosetta Stone Deciphered by Jean-François Chamollion1822The Rosetta stone was carved in 196 B.C. and contained the same message in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Egyptian common script, and Greek. During Napoleon's Egyptian campaigns, the stone was found by soldiers and sent back to Europe. Eventually, Champollion used his knowledge of the other scripts to decipher the hieroglyphics, meaning Europeans could now read other hieroglyphic messages.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Rosetta_Stone.JPGLanguagesSTM
46
Babington Plot15861587Anthony Babington and a crew of conspirators believed Mary Stuart, "Queen of Scots" was the rightful heir to the English throne. The Catholics planned to free Mary from prison, assassinate the protestant Elizabeth I, and install Mary as Queen. A Catholic named Gilbert Gifford offered his help in the conspiracy secretly passed ciphered correspondence between Mary and Babington. Gifford was, however, a double agent who passed the letters to Sir Francis Walsingham, one of the Queen's secretaries who had the messages deciphered. The messages were used as evidence in Mary's trial for treason, which ended with her death.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Babington_postscript.jpgMilitarySTM
47
The Great Paris Cipher Broken18111812The Armies of Napoleon introduced a grand chiffre known as the "Great Paris Cipher" in 1811. It marked the first time Napoleon's Grand Armée used a cipher with more than 200 code numbers. The Great Paris Cipher was based on the ciphers of Louis XIV, though less complicated. The Cipher was completely broken by Major George Scovell, commander of the Duke of Wellington's "Army's Guides" by late 1812.http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/spies/ciphers/scovell/sc1_x.htmCiphersSTM
48
Americans Develop "Holy Grail of Cryptography"1918American scientists developed a cipher form that eliminated much of the predictability of the Vigenère. They introduced the idea of a keyword as long as the ciphertext. Longer keywords make the cipher much harder to crack. However, keyphrases that were coherent were still predictable and breakable. In an attempt to create an unbreakable cipher, Major Joseph Mauborgne proposed using a completely random sequence of letters as the keyword. The sender and recipient would use a "onetime pad," using each "keyphrase" only once. Such a cipher is unbreakable, but because it is hard to implement it is used only in the most sensitive of communications.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Joseph_Mauborgne.jpgCiphersSTM
49
Public Key Cryptography Developed by GCHQ1973James H. Ellis, Clifford Cocks, and Malcolm Williamson of the UK's GCHQ developed "non-secret encryption" with use of asymmetrical algorithms, allowing information to be encrypted with one key and decrypted with another. All users have a public key, which is widely distributed, and a private key which is kept secret. Information intended for a specific recipient is encrypted with his public key and can only be decrypted by his private key. In 1976, Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman developed the same system publicly and were given credit while the GCHQ work was not properly credited until 1997 because of the top-secret nature of the information.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Public_key_encryption.svgTechnology, PeopleSTM
50
Secret Intelligence Service Founded1909The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) was founded in 1909. The SIS is more commonly known as MI6. It was founded to monitor intelligence operations. Germany was a country of particular interest when SIS was founded. http://www.trendite.net/wp-content/secret-intelligence-service-adevertising-on-facebook-for-mi6-agents.gifMilitaryTBM
51
First Enigma Machine invented1918Arthur Scherbius invented the first Enigma machine in 1918. It operated using a keyboard and a series of rotors to encrypt a message. When the key was turned, the rotors would spin altering the electrical circuit. This changed the encryption key used. The Enigma Machine was used by Germany in World War II. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Enigma.jpgMilitaryTBM
52
Germany begins sending messages enciphered by the Enigma1926British, French, and American code breakers began to intercept messages that they could not decipher. Germany now had secure communication. Britain lost the ability to monitor German communication, thus losing a major edge going into World War II. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hermann-uwe.de/files/images/Enigma-rotor-stack.preview.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hermann-uwe.de/node/801&usg=__J1prlhh3pGBpXKDRu1prAKOhoYY=&h=480&w=640&sz=47&hl=en&start=9&zoom=1&tbnid=wiZwo-FpzcmfJM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Denigma%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1220%26bih%3D621%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1Ciphers, Military, TechnologyTBM
53
Alan Turing is Born1912Alan Turing was a British cryptanalyst working at Blechley Park on cracking the Enigma machine. He attended King's College, Cambridge. He came up with the idea of a machine that could preform any mathematical function, called the universal Turing Machine. It was to be capable of answering any question that could possibly be answered. Turing was also homosexual; he found acceptance while in Cambridge. In 1939, he was invited to the Government Code and Cipher School. He came up with a way to decipher the Enigma without the repetition of the message key. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://sexualityinart.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/alan-turing-2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sexualityinart.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/in-1952-the-british-government-chemically-castrated-alan-turing-a-leading-cryptanalyst-who-during-ww-ii-broke-the-nazis-enigma-code/&usg=___lyq3vDW6c94a-1N4daU-21RG3M=&h=520&w=473&sz=68&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=lqAgVlgFehKV4M:&tbnh=151&tbnw=142&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dalan%2Bturing%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1220%26bih%3D621%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=132&vpy=104&dur=765&hovh=235&hovw=214&tx=128&ty=115&ei=baK_TIzZCMH98Ab94ITtBA&oei=baK_TIzZCMH98Ab94ITtBA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0PeopleTBM
54
Alan Turing dies1954When it was discovered that he was a homosexual, he was forced to meet with a psychiatrist and was placed on hormone treatment. He was also not allowed to continue work on the computer. He became depressed and eventually committed suicide on June 4, 1954.http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/doc/image.rhtm/Turing2.jpgPeopleTBM
55
Britain cracked the Enigma Code during WWI1941In a top secret series of raids on German ships and U-boats, Britain was able to siezed several Enigma machines that the Germans used to encode messages during WWI. Although they had already cracked a small portion of the cipher using previous intelligence, British code breakers were able to decipher German messages that they intercepted that had been enciphered by the Enigma machine after this achievement (this information and more on http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/atlantic/enigma.aspx).http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Enigma_machine_-_Polish_labels.jpgMilitaryTRS
56
Chaocipher Revealed2010In 2010, John Byrne's daughter-in-law donated his notes and blueprints about the Chaocipher he created almost a century ago to the National Cryptological Museum. This was the first time the public was able to crack the cipher, which had been unbroken since creation.http://www.fiziwig.com/crypto/slide04.pngCiphers, People, CultureTRS
57
Chaocipher Created1919John Byrne created a cipher that he called the Chaocipher in 1919 that he envisioned helping private businesses everywhere communicate securely. His cipher was never cracked by anyone until its algorithm was revealed in 2010, but it never received much recognition, either.http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JbOknwQdKo4/S4puIk18TOI/AAAAAAAADpw/rD6vefwGI3k/s400/chaocipher.gifCiphers, PeopleTRS
58
The Silent Years1954John Byrne published this autobiography to publicize information about his Chaocipher because it had received much less attention than he expected it would. In it, he challenges readers to figure out how he enciphered given plaintext to create his ciphertext.http://fanjacc.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/chaocipher.jpg?w=450CiphersTRS
59
Etienne Bazeries Breaks Great Cipher18901893Bazeries struggled through trial and error to decode the Rossignols Syllabic cipherCiphersTSH
60
Wheatstone-Playfair Cipher Introduced1854A digraphic cipher invented by scientist Charles Wheatstone and popularized by Baron Lyon Playfair. Ciphertext is made based on three rules that apply to a set cipher-square.http://wpcontent.answcdn.com/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Playfair_Cipher_01_HI_to_BM.pngCiphers, PeopleTSH
61
JFK rescued thanks to Playfair Cipher1943Future President John F. Kennedy Jr. was rammed by a Japanese destroyer in the Solomon Islands, and used the Playfair Cipher to encrypt a message to an Australian Coastwatcher. The Coastwatcher decrypted the message with the keyword “ROYAL NEW ZEALAND NAVY”, and soon thereafter rescued Kennedy and his crew. <http://practicalcryptography.com/ciphers/playfair-cipher/>http://www.jfklibrary.org/NR/rdonlyres/53EB65EA-97FE-4B08-9A08-DC841347A946/24639/53EB65EA97FE4B089A08DC841347A947.jpgCiphers, People, MilitaryTSH
62
RSA Revealed to Public1977The discovery was announced by Martin Gardner in an article in "Scientific American". He issued a challenge to find the prime factorization of an example of an N value. It took 17 years to factor the number. http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0486247619.01._SX220_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpgCiphersTBM
63
Clifford Cocks discovers function to utilize asymmetric cryptography1973Clifford Cocks, a graduate of Cambridge University, discovered a one way equation that could be used in asymmetric cryptography. He did this within his first two weeks at the GCHQ. Other cryptographers and mathematicians in the GCHQ had been working on this problem for three years; Cocks solved it in less than a half-hour. http://www.ulm.ccc.de/old/chaos-seminar/krypto2/cocks.jpgPeopleTBM
64
PGP Introduced to the public1991Phil Zimmerman creates PGP, or Pretty Good Privacy, a software program the was available for free over the internet. This was the first time strong encryption was made easily available to the mass public.http://aristotle.tamu.edu/Images/pgp.gifPeople, TechnologyTSH
65
HIll cipher is published1929Lester Hill publishes his article "Cryptography in an Algebraic Alphabet" in which he descibes a method for a cipher that is later named the Hill cipher. The Hill cipher uses linear algebra to encode messages.http://w10.middlebury.edu/INTD1065A/Lectures%20%20folder/Hill%20Cipher%20Folder/HILL_files/image003.pngPeople, CiphersDPC
66
"The Codebreakers" is published1964David Kahn's book, "The Codebreakers" is published.http://www.ebookchm.com/screen/it-ebooks/0684831309.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpgPeopleDPC
67
NSA founded1951The United State's National Security Agency is foundedhttp://www.monomachines.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/nsa_seal.jpegMilitaryDPC
68
Voynich Manuscript Written14041438A mysterious book of about 240 pages containing illustrations and some sort of coded writing continues to baffle cryptographers. The manuscript is named after Wilfrid Voynich, a Polish book dealer who owned it at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is currently owned by Yale and is in one of the libraries there. The listed dates are estimates based on carbon dating, though the actual date the book was written, like the contents of the book, is unknown.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Voynich_Manuscript_%28170%29.jpgUnsolvedSTM
69
Polygraphiae Written1518Written by Johannes Trithemius, "Polygraphiae" is the first printed book about cryptography. It is also the book in which the "Tabua Recta," or Vigenere square, was first introduced.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Polygraphiae.jpgCiphersSTM
70
Data Encryption System (DES)19751999"The Data Encryption Standard (DES) is a block cipher that uses shared secret encryption. It was selected by the National Bureau of Standards as an official Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) for the United States in 1976 and which has subsequently enjoyed widespread use internationally. It is based on a symmetric-key algorithm that uses a 56-bit key. The algorithm was initially controversial with classified design elements, a relatively short key length, and suspicions about a National Security Agency (NSA) backdoor. DES consequently came under intense academic scrutiny which motivated the modern understanding of block ciphers and their cryptanalysis" (Wikipedia: DES).http://www.smartcardbasics.com/smart_card_images/panel7_3des.gifCiphersAFT
71
Morriss confides the secret of the Beale ciphers1862At the end of his life, Morriss (whom Beale left his ciphers with) tells his confidant Ward about the ciphers. Ward in turn deciphers one of the papers using the Declaration of Independence as a key.http://www.storyworkz.com/BlogImages/9.gifPeople, unsolvedE.B.
72
Thackeray uses a Cardano grille in The History of Henry Osmond1852The Cardano grille technique, where a stiff paper or card is placed over text to reveal a message, is introduced to the public in William Makepeace Thackeray's novel. This form of stenography was used as recently as World War II.PeopleE.B.
73
Atbash Cipher0500The Atbash cipher is a simple substitution cipher where the first letter of the alphabet is replaced with the last, the second letter with the second to last, and so on. It is obviously weak and susceptible to frequency analysis.http://techpiece.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/atbash.png%3Fw%3D235%26h%3D264CiphersAFT
74
House of Commons releases a report on the Deciphering Branch1742As early as 1735 parliment members began complaining that their mail appeared to have been opened or tampered with. It was only after this report was released that the members learned that their own deciphering branch had been opening and reading their mail.OthersE.B.
75
Stuart Mitchell cracks the code of the ceiling of the Rosslyn chapel.2005Mitchell, a Scottish composer, cracked a series of codes hidden in 213 cubes on the ceiling of the Rosslyn chapel. Twenty years after he began trying to break the code, he discovered that it is a piece of music written for 13 instruments from the medieval era. It is thought to have a specific significance for the chapel's builders. http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/europe/images/rosslyn-chapel12.jpgCultureE.B.
76
Polybius Square Cipher-0120"In the Polybius square, the letters of the alphabet were arranged left to right, top to bottom in a 5 x 5 square, (when used with the modern 26 letter alphabet, the letters "I" and "J" are combined). Five numbers were then aligned on the outside top of the square, and five numbers on the left side of the square vertically. Usually these numbers were arranged 1 through 5. By cross-referencing the two numbers along the grid of the square, a letter could be deduced. In The Histories, he specifies how this cypher could be used in fire signals, where long-range messages could be sent by means of torches raised and lowered to signify the column and row of each letter. This was a great leap forward from previous fire signaling, which could send pre-arranged codes only (such as, 'if we light the fire, it means that the enemy has arrived')." (Wikipedia: Polybius)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/AGMA_Hérodote.jpgCiphersAFT
77
Dora Bella Cipher is Written1897In a letter to Dora Penny, Edward Elgar encrypted a message that to this day has proven to be unbreakable.http://www.ciphermysteries.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/dorabella-cipher-image.gifCiphersJFH
78
Auguste Kerchoff is published in le Journal des Sciences Militaires1883Kerchoffe's article entitled La Cryptographie Militaire includes the famous Kerchoff's Principle, which states "The design of a system should not require secrecy and compromise of the system should not inconvenience the correspondents" (Wikipedia).http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Kerkhoffs.jpgPeopleAFT
79
SIGABA1937"SIGABA was similar to the Enigma in basic theory, in that it used a series of rotors to encipher every character of the plaintext into a different character of ciphertext. Unlike Enigma's three rotors however, the SIGABA included fifteen, and did not use a reflecting rotor. On the downside, the SIGABA was also large, heavy, expensive, difficult to operate, mechanically complex and fragile. It was nowhere near as practical a device as the Enigma, which was smaller and lighter than the radios it was used with." (Wikipedia: SIGABA)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SIGABA-patent.pngCiphersAFT
80
Philips of Marnix, Lord of Saint-Aldegonde15401598St. Aldegonde is considered to be the first Dutch cryptographer. For Stadholder William the Silent, he deciphered secret messages that were intercepted from the Spaniards.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Marnix_van_st._aldegonde.gifPeopleAFT
81
Zodiac Ciphers1969The Zodiac killer, who was never caught, sent multiple ciphers to several San Francisco newspapers, which were supposed to reveal information about the murders he had committed. He demanded that they be published so that the public could crack them. Some remain unbroken to this day.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikisource/en/7/74/Zod-Vallejo.jpgciphersTRS
82
Johannes Trithemius14621516"Trithemius' most famous work is Steganographia (written c.1499. This book is in three volumes, and appears to be about magic - specifically, about using spirits to communicate over long distances. Since the publication of the decryption key to the first two volumes in 1606, they have been known to be actually concerned with cryptography and steganography. Until recently, the third volume was widely still believed to be about magic, but the "magical" formulae have now been shown to be covertexts for yet more cryptography content.[3] The work has lent its name to the modern field of steganography." (Wikipedia: Johannes Trithemius)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Trithemiusmoredetail.jpgPeopleAFT
83
Claude Elwood Shannon19162001Claude Shannon, known as the father of Information Theory, made many significant contributions to science and cryptography including the Information Theory, the Sampling Theory, and the Communication Theory. Shannon also worked with section D-2 of the National Defense Research Committee during World War II. (Wikipedia: Claude Shannon)http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2f/Claude_Elwood_Shannon_%281916-2001%29.jpgPeopleAFT
84
Serpent1998"Serpent is a symmetric key block cipher which was a finalist in the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) contest, where it came second to Rijndael. Serpent was designed by Ross Anderson, Eli Biham, and Lars Knudsen. Serpent has a block size of 128 bits and supports a key size of 128, 192 or 256 bits[2]. The cipher is a 32-round substitution-permutation network operating on a block of four 32-bit words. Each round applies one of eight 4-bit to 4-bit S-boxes 32 times in parallel. Serpent was designed so that all operations can be executed in parallel, using 32 1-bit slices. This maximizes parallelism, but also allows use of the extensive cryptanalysis work performed on DES. The Serpent cipher has not been patented. It is completely in the public domain and can be freely used by anyone." (WIkipedia: Serpent (cipher))http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Serpent-linearfunction.svgCiphersAFT
85
Bellaso's Cipher1553Giovan Bellaso offered encrypted passages and this message to challenge cryptanalysts: "The seven appended messages have been accurately compiled according to the concepts taught. They contain some beautiful things that are interesting to know. This will give the skilled and ingenious cryptographers the opportunity to strive to solve them, especially those who assert being capable to solve all kinds of ciphers. If this is true, as many believe, it will not be difficult for them to solve these cryptograms knowing all the rules by which they have been compiled, considering that the different ciphering methods are practically numberless." Bellaso said that he would reveal the contents of the message a year after it was published, however he did not follow up on his word, leaving the cipher still unbroken. (http://www.ciphermysteries.com/bellasos-ciphers)UnsolvedAFT
86
D’agapeyeff Cipher1939The D’Agapeyeff cipher is an as-yet unbroken cipher that appears in the first edition of Codes and Ciphers, an elementary book on cryptography published by the Russian-born English cartographer Alexander D’Agapeyeff in 1939.

"Offered as a “challenge cipher” at the end of the book, it was not included in later editions, and D’Agapeyeff is said to have admitted later to having forgotten how he had encrypted it. It has been argued that the failure of all attempts at decryption is due to D’Agapeyeff incorrectly encrypting the original text. However, it has been argued that the cipher may still be successfully attacked using computational methods such as genetic algorithms" (http://www.dailycognition.com/index.php/2009/02/15/top-10-uncracked-codes.html)

UnsolvedAFT
87
 Shugborough Hall Enscription1750"The Shepherd’s Monument at Shugborough Hall carries a relief (pictured above) that shows a woman watching three shepherds pointing to a tomb. On the tomb is depicted the Latin text “Et in arcadia ego” (”I am also in Arcadia” or “I am even in Arcadia”). The relief is based on a painting by the French artist Nicholas Poussin, known itself as Et in Arcadia ego, but the relief has a number of modifications — most noticeably that it is reversed horizontally. Another difference is a change in which letter of the tomb a shepherd is pointing at. In the painting the letter R in ARCADIA is being pointed to. The finger in the sculpture is broken, but was pointing to the N in IN. The sculpture also adds an extra sarcophagus to the scene, placed on top of the one with the Latin phrase. Below the image of the monument are the following letters: D O.U.O.S.V.A.V.V. M. For adherents of the modern Grail-conspiracy legend, the inscription is alleged to hold a clue to the location of the Holy Grail. Following the claims in the book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail that Poussin was a member of the Priory of Sion and that the painting contains a message about the location of the grail, it has been speculated that the inscription may encode secrets related to the Priory" (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_opptvFBa4ck/SU47NM1OckI/AAAAAAAAJGA/G21adGplmdQ/s400/10-Most-Famous-Uncracked-Codes-004.jpgUnsolvedAFT
88
Chinese Gold Bar Cipher1933"In 1933, seven gold bars were allegedly issued to a General Wang in Shanghai, China. These gold bars appear to represent metal certificates related to a bank deposit with a U.S. Bank. The gold bars themselves have pictures, Chinese writing, some form of script writing, and cryptograms in latin letters. Not surprisingly, there is a dispute concerning the validity of the claim for the deposit. It may help to resolve the dispute if someone can decipher the cryptograms on the bars. Nobody has yet put for the a theory as to their meaning. The Chinese writing has been translated, and discusses a transaction in excess of $300,000,000. It also refers to these gold bars which weigh a total of 1.8 kilograms" (http://www.dailycognition.com/index.php/2009/02/15/top-10-uncracked-codes.html).
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_opptvFBa4ck/SU47FAMDxMI/AAAAAAAAJF4/4SENmrqT79U/s400/10-Most-Famous-Uncracked-Codes-005.jpgUnsolvedAFT
89
The Phaistos Disk-1700"The disc of Phaistos is the most important example of hieroglyphic inscription from Crete and was discovered in 1903 in a small room near the depositories of the “archive chamber”, in the north - east apartments of the palace, together with a Linear A tablet and pottery dated to the beginning of the Neo-palatial period (1700- 1600 B.C.). Both surfaces of this clay disc are covered with hieroglyphs arranged in a spiral zone, impressed on the clay when it was damp. The signs make up groups divided from each other by vertical lines, and each of these groups should represent a word. Forty five different types of signs have been distinguished, of which a few can be identified with the hieroglyphs in use in the Proto- palatial period. Some hieroglyphic sequences recur like refrains, suggesting a religious hymn, and Pernier regards the content of the text as ritual. Others have suggested that the text is a list of soldiers, and lately it has suggested to be a document in the Hittic language in which a king discusses the erection of the Palace of Phaistos" (http://www.dailycognition.com/index.php/2009/02/15/top-10-uncracked-codes.html)http://listverse.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/top-10-uncracked-codes.jpgUnsolvedAFT
90
Quantum Cryptography first invented1968Stephen Wiesner, a grad student at Columbia University, comes up with the idea for quantum encryption for "quantum money" which would make forgery impossible. He understood that tampering with encryption (i.e. trying to intercept a message) would render it indecipherable. However, his idea was too far ahead of his time, and quantum money was much too costly to gain any popularity at the time.http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/files/35966/Quantum%20Money.jpgPeople, CiphersTSH
91
Rejewski and colleagues broke the Enigma using bombes19301938Through mathematics, ingenuity, and the help of Hans-Thilo Schmidt, Rejewski and the other Polish cryptanalysts were able to break the German enigma for most of the 1930's, until they handed off their achievements to British cryptanalysts on July 24, 1939.http://www.matematiksider.dk/enigma/marian_rejewski.jpgPeople, CiphersTSH
92
Diffie-Hellman-Merkle key exchange scheme revealed to the public 1976The trio of Whitfield Diffie, Martin Hellman, and Ralph Merkle, demonstrate the first public key cryptographic system at the National Computer Conference, and filed for a patent the following year. The exchange scheme was a major step forward in cryptography, however was not perfect, due to its inconvenience.http://www.livinginternet.com/g/diffie_hellman_merkle.jpgPeople, CiphersTSH
93
Anson Stager develops Cipher for Union Army1861Stager's cipher replaced certain words with codewords; once the replacement was complete, the telegraph operator used a "route" or predetermined word that was placed at the beginning of the message to rearrange the other words in a set way. The recipient then undid the rearrangement and replaced coded words with their plaintext counterparts according to his copy of the codebook.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/70/General-Anson-Stager.jpgMilitarySTM
94
Traité Élémentaire de Cryptographie written by Delastelle1901Delastelle invented the Bifid, Trifid and Four-Square Ciphers and came up with a version of the Playfair Cipher independent of its original creation. The three ciphers he invented all use grids as their basis. no picture availablePeopleSTM
95
Phil Zimmerman becomes the subject of grand jury investigation.19931996The FBI accuses Zimmerman of "exporting munitions" to hostile foreign countries by allowing the distribution of PGP. The case is dropped in 1996.http://regmedia.co.uk/2006/11/21/phil_zimmerman.jpgPeopleMHG
96
RSA algorithm released into public domain2000Nearly 17 years after the ground-breaking public key algorithm had been patented, it is finally released into the public domain on September 6th, 2000.http://www.codeproject.com/KB/security/EZRSA/rsa.gifCiphersMHG
97
Clue to Kryptos is published by creator2010-11-21Jim Sanborn, frustrated with the delay of the cracking of the fourth part of his cipher, Kryptos, released a six-character clue, the word Berlin, which sent Kryptos-obsessed cryptanalysts into a frenzy.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/us/21code.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=kryptos&st=cseCiphersCSH
98
Sherlock Holmes movie comes out2009-12-25Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes in a modern rendition of the classic mysterieshttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045/CultureCSH
99
Sherlock Holmes character appears in Arthur Conan Doyle's books1887Holmes was featured in 4 novels and 56 short stories. He has become a well known figure associated with detective work.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_HolmesCultureCSH
100
GNU Privacy Guard software published2010-07-19A free software alternative to PGP encryption, which has received funding from the German government.