Top Ten Famous Codes

By Author: Acheson Walker
Total Articles: 25
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Working in the world of MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) printing and technology every day, I am very familiar with 'codes.' To have a little fun, my colleagues and I generating this entirely subjective list of history's ten most famous codes. We hope you enjoy it!

1. Morse code: Samuel Morse's invention remains one of the grandfathers of code, the tapped series of beeps used to communicate distress and other signals a reality for well over a century. While not in as heavy of use today, it is still a preferred method of contact for amateur radio enthusiasts, pilots, and emergency signal operators.

2. Navajo: During World War II, the US military relied on Navajo Indians for their codes. Because of the complexity of the language, it was the only code during the war not deciphered by enemy forces.

3. MICR: Ever wonder what those cryptic, hieroglyphic-looking symbols are at the bottom of checks? They're known as MICR or Magnetic Ink Character Recognition numbers, and the MICR font helps checks get where they need to go, at a highly efficient and quick rate. These days, check software can even allow ...
... MICR to be printed from home.

4. Binary: Were there any justice these words about binary would be written as a series of zeroes and ones, the internal language for computers, loved by programmers and eternally mysterious to most non-tech savvy folk.

5. Pig Latin: Okay, so no spy would be caught dead using Pig Latin (and if they were caught, they would quickly be discovered as spies for this, their death assured.) All the same, Pig Latin is a form of code, one of the more simple since it's generally a matter of taking the first letter on a word, moving it to the end, and adding an "ay." It is a gateway code, one that can lead to others.

6. Sign language: Used throughout the world, in a variety of forms related to the local dialects, sign language dates back to ancient times and helps the deaf and hearing-impaired communicate. There is no one, universal sign language, with hundreds of different variations, and sometimes, twins or other close groups develop their own form of it.

7. Baseball signs: The use of hand signals dates back about a century in baseball to the early 1900s when a talented, deaf pitcher named Dummy Taylor joined the New York Giants. Manager John McGraw had his team learn sign language to communicate with Taylor, and from there, they found they had their own special language with which to communicate on field. The system has evolved from there, of course, though players remain as superstitious and eager to find ways to get ahead as McGraw did in his time.

8. Bar codes: Similar to MICR, bar codes help magnetically classify and process items, in this case consumer goods. Like MICR, they allow for greater efficiency and quicker handling.

9. Pin numbers: Of all the codes here, this is the one that people have the most individual control over, with their pin their own personal password to protect their banking and other personal information.

10. Honor codes: So maybe this last code is different than everything else here in that it's not some means to deceive others or hide truth. Honor codes, generally what schools or other organizations ask their members to abide by, are codes nonetheless.

Maribel Oliva is an operations manager who works with MICR font and codes, as well as check software, on a daily basis. She is the author of this article on famous codes.