Before the publication of Rivest's paper in 1998 other people brought to his attention a 1965 novel, Rex Stout's The Doorbell Rang, which describes the same concept and was thus included in the paper's references.
Rang De Basanti | The Doorbell Rang | Song Hye-rang | Rang Mahal | You Rang, M'Lord? | Rang Rasiya | Rang Barse Bhige Chunar wali | Rang | My Doorbell | Hwa Rang Do |
His 1964 exposé, The FBI Nobody Knows, was central to the plot of one of Rex Stout's most popular Nero Wolfe novels, The Doorbell Rang (1965).