Charles Peirce also had the idea in the 1880s, but he didn't publish it. (There were a couple of others in the 1930s who did, but were unfortunate enough to not

Charles Peirce also had the idea in the 1880s, but he didn't publish it. (There were a couple of others in the 1930s who did, but were unfortunate enough to not be Shannon.) http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/pulc/pulc_v_45_n_3.pdf http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/pulc/pulc_v_45... from page 186 has the story about Peirce.