The 1967 version of ASCII (which introduced ` along with the other characters like lower case in the same columns) allowed certain characters [`'"~^,] to have a

The 1967 version of ASCII (which introduced ` along with the other characters like lower case in the same columns) allowed certain characters [`'"~^,] to have a dual role as punctuation [‘’"‾^,] or accents [`´¨˜ˆ¸] — not as some fancy complicated encoding, but simply as type bars that would look OK when overstruck on a letter. The characters ^ ` and ~ were encoded specifically because they could be used as accents. Notwithstanding the name we know it under, ASCII was an international effort. ASCII-1967 isn't online but EMCA-6-1973 is functionally equivalent. https://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-006-arch.htm https://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ec...