From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me
X-Spam-Level: 
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID
	autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4
X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit
X-Google-Thread: 103376,60973b026c6e423d
X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public
From: eachus@spectre.mitre.org (Robert I. Eachus)
Subject: Re: the term "pound sign" (was: help: character to integer)
Date: 1996/10/11
Message-ID: <EACHUS.96Oct10204608@spectre.mitre.org>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 188628998
references: <53blbk$6va@krusty.irvine.com> <53gged$oqi@felix.seas.gwu.edu>
organization: The Mitre Corp., Bedford, MA.
newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Date: 1996-10-11T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


In article <53hnn3$474@news.nyu.edu> kenner@lab.ultra.nyu.edu (Richard Kenner) writes:

  > The list for Morse code I'm looking at includes just the letters,
  > numbers, period, comma, question mark, colon, semicolon, fraction
  > bar, and some symbols not in ASCII.

  > Actually, in telephony "#" is called an "octothorpe".

   You can blame Ma Bell for the name octothorpe, but the symbol # for
pounds goes way back.  I'm not sure if I could dig up a printed
reference before 1700, but I am certain I can find one that predates
the telegraph by at least a century.  (Actually the Williams College
Library is a great place to look if you are still in Pownal, Robert.
Just ask for early arithmetic textbooks.)

--

					Robert I. Eachus

with Standard_Disclaimer;
use  Standard_Disclaimer;
function Message (Text: in Clever_Ideas) return Better_Ideas is...