"On This Date in History" Calendar
1933: Government seizure of cryptologist Herbert Yardley's "Japanese Diplomatic Secrets."
18 February 1933: Government seizure of cryptologist Herbert Yardley's never-published book, "Japanese Diplomatic Secrets."
The book was to be an account of the diplomatic maneuvering behind the Washington arms conference as revealed through intercepted translated Japanese communications. The book was seized under Section 32, Title 50 of the US Code which prohibited the taking of secret documents. The never published book owes its fame to the legislation it created, officially known as "An Act for the Protection of Government Records."According to author James Bamford, it was "the first and only manuscript in American literary history to be seized and impounded for national security reasons by the United States government."
LEARN MORE about Yardley via the link below.
