The Cipher Named After The Wrong Man

The famous Playfair cipher was actually invented by Charles Wheatstone, not Lord Playfair. Wheatstone created the system in 1854, but his friend Playfair simply promoted its use to the British government.

This ingenious method was the first to encrypt pairs of letters instead of single ones, which made it much harder to crack. Despite Wheatstone’s brilliance in designing the logic, he often let others take the lead in political circles. Lord Playfair famously championed the technique to the Foreign Office, leading it to be forever branded with his own name. It became a staple for secret military communication during both World Wars.