The Origins of Braille

Video details

Early 1800s.
It's the middle of the Napoleonic wars, in the middle of Europe, and it's the middle of the night.
One Captain Charles Barbier of Napoleon 's army is trying to relay a message to one of his troops.
But sending written communications to the front lines can be deadly for the recipient.
Lighting a candle to read the missive can give away their positions to the enemy.
In a moment of vision, Barbier pokes a series of holes into a sheet of paper with his blade
creating a coded message that can be deciphered by fingertip, even in the pitch black.
The merits of his so-called " night writing " are never acknowledged by the military,
but in 1821, Barbier approaches the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris
in the hopes that they might find a use for his innovative new communication method.
There, a precocious teen by the name of Louis Braille does just that.
Louis spends the next several years improving on Barbier 's idea,
creating an organized alphabet fitting into a six dot standardized cell.
The system catches on.
Today, Braille is the universally accepted system of writing for the blind, adapted for more than 130 languages.

Early 1800s.
Early
1800s
It's the middle of the Napoleonic wars, in the middle of Europe, and it's the middle of the night.
and
It's
in
the
it's
of
Europe
night
middle
Napoleonic
wars
One Captain Charles Barbier of Napoleon 's army is trying to relay a message to one of his troops.
is
One
a
to
of
his
one
's
message
trying
army
Napoleon
Captain Charles Barbier
relay
troops
But sending written communications to the front lines can be deadly for the recipient.
be
for
the
to
can
But
sending
written
deadly
communications
front lines
recipient
Lighting a candle to read the missive can give away their positions to the enemy.
a
the
to
can
read
away
their
give
candle
positions
Lighting
missive
enemy
In a moment of vision, Barbier pokes a series of holes into a sheet of paper with his blade
with
a
of
his
paper
into
In
vision
moment
series
holes
sheet
blade
Barbier
pokes
creating a coded message that can be deciphered by fingertip, even in the pitch black.
be
a
in
the
that
can
black
by
even
message
creating
pitch
coded
deciphered
fingertip
The merits of his so-called " night writing " are never acknowledged by the military,
are
The
the
of
his
never
by
so-called
military
merits
night writing
acknowledged
but in 1821, Barbier approaches the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris
in
the
but
Paris
Barbier
approaches
Royal Institute for Blind Youth
in the hopes that they might find a use for his innovative new communication method.
for
a
in
the
that
they
his
new
use
might
find
method
hopes
communication
innovative
There, a precocious teen by the name of Louis Braille does just that.
There
a
the
that
of
name
does
just
by
teen
precocious
Louis Braille
Louis spends the next several years improving on Barbier 's idea,
the
on
's
next
idea
several
years
spends
improving
Barbier
Louis
creating an organized alphabet fitting into a six dot standardized cell.
a
an
six
into
alphabet
cell
creating
organized
fitting
dot
standardized
The system catches on.
The
on
system
catches
Today, Braille is the universally accepted system of writing for the blind, adapted for more than 130 languages.
is
for
the
more
of
Today
languages
than
system
writing
blind
accepted
Braille
universally
adapted