[slowmover]

> One might question why all control codes in the ASCII character set have low values, but the DEL control code has value 127. This is, because this specific character was defined for deleting data on paper tapes. Most paper tapes in that time used 7 holes to code the data. The value 127 represents a binary pattern were all seven bits are high, so when using the DEL character on an existing paper tape, all holes are punched and existing data is erased.

I love this, it shows just how old the roots of ASCII are.

[sesqu]

There's a problem with that explanation: the binary representation of "deleted data" has a different meaning than the control code "delete data".