For most of us, secret societies are relegated to the fictional realm of Dan Brown novels, but that doesn't mean that they aren't real. In the December issue of Wired — and now available online — Noah Shachtman delves into the fascinating story of a 250-year-old document that helped shed new light on a virtually unknown secret order. The code — a seemingly mish-mashed collection of symbols and letters — went undeciphered for decades, until a machine translation specialist eventually cracked it. It's a fascinating story, so be sure to read the whole thing at the source link below.