Louis Braille, and the touch reading system he invented at the age of fifteen.
Louis Braille, Born 1809
Inventor of the Braille Touch Reading System
Louis Braille was born in the small town of Coupvray, about 20 miles east of Paris. His father was a leatherer and maker of horse tack, operating from a workshop in his home. As a toddler, Louise spent his time playing with the tools in his father’s workshop. At the age of three he had an accident, stabbing himself in the eye with a sharp tool. The infection spread to the other eye and by the age of five he became completely blind. His parents worked hard to give him a normal live, and Louis was able to navigate his way around the village with a cane. From the age of ten he attended a blind school in Paris where, at the age of fifteen, he invented the Braille touch reading system. But it was only taken up widely after his death at the young ageof 43. After his death his Braille system swept the world, transforming the lives of millions of blind people.
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