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Cryptologic History

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"On This Date in Cryptologic History" Calendar

Learn about a wide variety of historical events related to cryptology, computers, math, cybersecurity, Intelligence, and more.

January 2027

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S M T W T F S
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1599: Birth date of Antoine Rossignol
1980: NSA Office of Policy mandated use of term "Service Cryptologic Element."
1921: William Friedman began 6 month contract with Army Signal Corps
1962: Lt Gen Gordon A. Blake, USAF, became DIRNSA.
1977: U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command established.
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1977: NARA assigned Record Group 457 to declassified NSA records.
1957: MG Gordon Blake named Commander, AF Security Service
1924: Laurance Safford named OIC, Navy Cryptographic Branch.
1838: Alfred Vail uses dots & dashes
1942: Jerzy Różycki, Polish Cipher Bureau mathematician, died.
1962: Marine cryptologists in Vietnam.
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1996: Louis Tordella, long-time D/DIRNSA died.
2003: First "History Today" article on NSA Daily Page.
1978: Brig Gen Ardisana Died on this Date
1977: 56-bit Data Encryption Standard published.
1898: Publication of a new War Department Telegraphic Code was authorized.
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
1917: Zimmermann Telegram
1859: Alfred Vail, co-inventor of the telegraph, died.
1944: 9th Infantry Division of the Australian Army captured Japanese cryptographic library.
1981: Iran released U.S. hostages.
1941: Eligible readers of "Magic" intercept are established.
1918: German spy Lothar Witzke was arrested carrying a coded message.
1998: U.S. cryptologic pioneer Abraham Sinkov died.
1968: North Koreans captured USS Pueblo.
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
1918: Arthur Scherbius received patent for ENIGMA.
1987: Navy EA-3B recon aircraft crashed in the Mediterranean Sea.
1975: Church Committee began investigation of U.S. Intelligence Community.
28 Jan 1986: Remembering the Challenger and her Crew
1943: New Zealand corvettes disable Japanese submarine and seize codebooks.
1968: Tet offensive in Vietnam began.
Jan 31 Feb 1 2 3 4 5 6
1992: 'The Federal Register' published details for the Secure Hash Standard (SHA).
Friday, January 1, 2027
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Wednesday, January 27, 2027
Thursday, January 28, 2027
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Saturday, January 30, 2027
Sunday, January 31, 2027

Learn About the Pioneers

Learn about the various individuals and groups who paved the way in the field of cryptology, cyber, computers, and more.