vladymir.info — UTF-8 BEGAN ON A PLACEMAT

misc/utf-8-on-a-placemat.md

UTF-8 began on a placemat

published · Ken Thompson sketched the encoding during dinner in 1992.

Ken Thompson and Rob Pike designed UTF-8 in one evening. Thompson worked out the bit layout on a placemat, then returned to the lab and implemented it before the night was over.