Frank Miller: Inventor of the One-Time Pad

The invention of the one-time pad is generally credited to Gilbert S. Vernam and Joseph O. Mauborgne. We show that it was invented about 35 years earlier by a Sacramento banker named Frank Miller. We identify which Frank Miller it was, and speculate on what might have led him to his idea. We also discuss whether or not Mauborgne might have known of Miller's work, especially via his colleague Parker Hitt.