User:Lexi Armstrong/Jefferson disk

Lead:
The Jefferson disk, also called the Bazeries Cylinder or wheel cypher as named by Thomas Jefferson, is a cipher system using a set of wheels or disks, each with the 26 letters of the alphabet arranged around their edge. The order of the letters is different for each disk and is usually scrambled in some random way. Each disk is also marked with a unique number and a hole in the center of the disks allows them to be stacked on an axle. The disks are removable and can be mounted on the axle in any order desired. The order of the disks is the cipher key, and both sender and receiver must arrange the disks in the same predefined order. Jefferson's device had 36 disks.

The Jefferson disk was invented by Thomas Jefferson in 1795, and the cipher was independently invented by Commandant Etienne Bazeries, and did not become well known until the conqueror of the Great Cipher, Rossignols, century later. The system was used by the United States Army from 1923 until 1942 as the M-94. '''It aided the war efforts as it was a type of secret language that only military and government officials could understand. Jefferson's Disk is the first form of coding technology ever created and later down the line Rossignols perfected that technology as "it was reputed to be unbreakable."'''

'''Thomas Jefferson may not have invented the cipher technology that became known as the coding we see today but he implanted the existence of such an invention. Without the creation of the Jefferson disk the making of future ciphers wouldn't have happened until much later in our history or possibly would never have happened at all. Our technological knowledge would be far behind what it is now if coding didn't thrive. Coding has influenced more of our history than most even believe. We've won wars using it, we've communicated with it, we've created machines using it, we even use it in our phones and computers without even realizing it. Jefferson sparked the creation of a main part of the world of technology that we use in our everyday lives whether we know it or not. We would have a very different and underdeveloped world compared to today without it being invented. we owe Thomas Jefferson a great thanks for creating such an invention.'''