Some famous ciphertexts (or cryptograms), in chronological order by date, are:
| Year of origin | Ciphertext | Decipherment status |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 and 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 and 2020) |
| 1977 | The Magic Words are Squeamish Ossifrage | Solved in 1993–1994 |
| 1983 | Decipher | Solved |
| 1986 | Decipher II | Partially solved (all 4 ciphertexts solved between 1985 and 1986, but the solution to the 4th ciphertext has since been lost) |
| 1987 | Decipher III | Unsolved |
| 1990 | Kryptos | Partially solved (3 out of the 4 ciphertexts solved between 1992 and 1999) |
| 1991 | Scorpion ciphers | 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
- Karen Puzzles (2021-03-07). The $100,000 Puzzle That Took Two Years to Solve. Retrieved 2024-07-04 – via YouTube.
- ^ Karen Puzzles (2021-05-09). The $100,000 Puzzles That Were NEVER SOLVED. Retrieved 2024-07-04 – via YouTube.
- "Scorpion Ciphers". Cipher Mysteries. Retrieved 2024-07-04.