Some famous ciphertexts (or cryptograms), in chronological order by date, are:
Year of origin | Ciphertext | Decipherment status |
---|---|---|
2nd millennium BC | Phaistos Disc | Unsolved |
179-180 | Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 90 | Unsolved |
1400s (15th century) | Voynich Manuscript | Unsolved |
1500s (16th century) (?) | Rohonc Codex | Unsolved |
1586 | Babington Plot ciphers | Solved |
17th century | Great Cipher | Solved |
1730 | Olivier Levasseur's treasure cryptogram | Unsolved |
1748–1756 | Shugborough inscription | Unsolved |
1760–1780 | Copiale cipher | Solved in 2011 |
1843 | "The Gold-Bug" cryptogram by Edgar Allan Poe | Solved (solution given within the short story) |
1882 | Debosnys cipher | Unsolved |
1885 | Beale ciphers | Partially solved (1 out of the 3 ciphertexts solved between 1845–1885) |
1897 | Dorabella Cipher | Unsolved |
1903 | "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" code by Arthur Conan Doyle | Solved (solution given within the short story) |
1917 | Zimmermann Telegram | Solved within days of transmission |
1918 | Chaocipher | Solved |
1918–1945 | Enigma machine messages | Solved (broken by Polish and Allied cryptographers between 1932 and 1945) |
1939 | D'Agapeyeff cipher | Unsolved |
1939–1945 | Purple cipher machine messages | Solved (broken by Allied cryptographers in 1940) |
1941 | Lorenz SZ42 machine cipher messages | Solved (broken by Allied cryptographers in 1942) |
1944 | Pigeon NURP 40 TW 194 | Unsolved |
1948 | Tamam Shud case | Unsolved |
1950(?) | James Hampton | Unsolved |
1969 | Zodiac Killer ciphers | Partially solved (2 out of the 4 ciphertexts solved between 1969–2020) |
1977 | The Magic Words are Squeamish Ossifrage | Solved in 1993–1994 |
1983 | Decipher | Solved [1] |
1986 | Decipher II | Partially solved (3 out of 4 ciphertexts solved between 1985 and 1986) [2] |
1987 | Decipher III | Unsolved[2] |
1990 | Kryptos | Partially solved (3 out of the 4 ciphertexts solved between 1992–1999) |
1991 | Scorpion ciphers[3] | Unsolved |
1999 | Ricky McCormick's encrypted notes | Unsolved |
2006 | Smithy code, embedded within the 2006 judgment on The Da Vinci Code case | Solved within month of publication |
2012–2016 | Cicada 3301 puzzles | Partially solved (2 out of 3 puzzles solved) |
2015 | 11B-X-1371 | Solved |
See also
- Undeciphered writing systems (cleartext, natural-language writing of unknown meaning)
References
External links
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