Louis Braille invented Braille, a sophisticated system to help the blind read and write, at the age of 15.
Louis Braille, born January 4, 1809 in the small town of Coupvray, located outside of Paris, France, went blind after an accident when he was three years old. Accepted into a special school for the blind when he was ten, Louis learned about “night writing,” a complex code using 12 dots that allowed soldiers to communicate silently on the battlefield. When he was 12 years old, Louis simplified the code to use only six dots, creating what would be called “Braille” as a communication tool for the blind. By the time he was 15, Louis published the first-ever Braille book and went on to add symbols for math and music. Braille began to spread worldwide in 1868, after Louis’ death, when a group of British men, now known as the Royal National Institute for the Blind, took up the cause.