World Braille Day is observed every year on January 4 in honour of Louis Braille. image credit: Google

The Frenchman who invented a reading and writing system for the blind and visually challenged. image credit: Google

The braille code, named after Louis Braille, is a form of written language that uses raised dots for characters. image credit: Google

This tactile system has helped blind and visually challenged people across the world to read and write independently image credit: Google

The braille code that Braille devised is still in use today. Louis Braille’s birth anniversary is honored as "World Braille Day". image credit: Google

Louis Braille was born on January 4, 1809 , in a small town called Coupvray in France. image credit: Google

His father Simon-René was a leather and saddler. image credit: Google

Braille began attending the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris, one of the world’s first institutes for the blind. image credit: Google

Students at the institute were taught to read books that used embossed print letters, a system that was slow and cumbersome. image credit: Google

Braille set out to modify and perfect the system. By the time he was 15, he had found a way to represent letters using six dots. image credit: Google