List of ciphertexts
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Shugborough_inscription.jpg/250px-Shugborough_inscription.jpg)
Shugborough inscription in England
Some famous ciphertexts (or cryptograms), in chronological order by date, are:
Year of origin | Ciphertext | Decipherment status |
---|---|---|
2nd millennium BC | Phaistos Disc | Unsolved |
1400s (15th century) | Voynich Manuscript | Unsolved |
1500s (16th century) (?) | Rohonc Codex | Unsolved |
1586 | Babington Plot ciphers | 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) |
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 Allied cryptographers between 1930s–1940s) |
1939 | D'Agapeyeff cipher | Unsolved |
1939–1945 | Purple cipher machine messages | Solved (broken by Allied cryptographers in 1940) |
1948 | Tamam Shud case | 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 |
1990 | Kryptos | Partially solved (3 out of the 4 ciphertexts solved between 1992–1999) |
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 |
External links[]
Categories:
- Cryptography lists and comparisons
- History of cryptography