5 little-known facts about Louis Braille (Compiled by Melisa K Jose)
Louis Braille was not blind by birth. When he was 3, Louis accidentally poked his eye with a sewing awl while playing in his father's workshop in France. The infection spread to his other eye and left him permanently blind at the age of 5. | Twitter
Braille had a good education and was awarded a scholarship to attend the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in France. Braille began creating a method for tactile coding because he wanted to help those who were similar to him from the very beginning. | Twitter
After creating a grid-based simplified writing system, French soldier Charles Barbier wrote to the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in France to inform them of his creation. Inspired by Charles' creation, Braille, a student there at the time, developed the Braille system.
In the village square where Braille grew up, there is a monument dedicated to him, now renamed as 'Braille Square.' Throughout the world, there are statues and other memorials dedicated to Braille, and the asteroid 9969 Braille bears his name. | Twitter
Braille musical notation is an addition to the Braille system. More thought and effort were devoted by Braille to the musical code's planning in order to make it "flexible enough to meet unique requirements of any instruments." In 1829, he released the first book describing this approach. | Twitter