How JN-25 codebreaking helped win Midway

Breaking Japan’s naval code helped win Midway

U.S. codebreakers penetrated JN-25, the Japanese Navy’s main operational cipher, gaining intelligence that contributed to the American victory at Midway. Japan continued using the system even after its vulnerability became public.

Individual photons build a wave-like interference pattern

In a double-slit experiment, photons arrive at a screen as separate individual hits. After many hits, they form a wave-like interference pattern. If the experiment measures which slit each photon goes through, that pattern disappears.

Polynesian sailors navigated by many signs

Early Polynesian sailors crossed open Pacific waters by combining what they observed in the stars, weather, wildlife and waves. They preserved navigation knowledge in memory, and recorded it on instruments such as the Marshall Islands’ stick charts.

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How JN-25 codebreaking helped win Midway

Breaking Japan’s naval code helped win Midway

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