This is not related to password hashing algorithms being discussed here, but: mathematically-secure cryptography was invented in 1882/1917: http://en.wikipedia

This is not related to password hashing algorithms being discussed here, but: mathematically-secure cryptography was invented in 1882/1917: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-time_pad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-time_pad Fun further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venona_project http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venona_project Also, fun reading: The Code Book by Simon Singh, and Spycatcher by Peter Wright