"On This Date in Cryptologic History" Calendar
1865: First US patent for cipher device to Edwin H. Hawley
On 11 July 1865, the first US patent was granted for a cipher device to Signal Corps Sergeant Edwin H. Hawley, for multiple alphabetic device which was a fan-like set of 26 wooden tablets, each with a different ciphertext alphabet on it, designed for use with a keyword. Info per David Kahn's book, "The Codebreakers."
