Why are the digits taller than the capital Latin letters in Lucida Console?

[AlMa1r]

Here's a screenshot from myfonts.com:

Any idea what this difference in height could be good for?

[vivicitynyc]

Originally a technical adaptation to restriction in early operating systems. It's been the terminal font for Windows systems since the 1990s (and Lucida Grande on Macs). Over time it's often chosen for designs because of this visual quirk. 

[AlMa1r]

9 hours ago, vivicitynyc said:

Originally a technical adaptation to restriction in early operating systems. It's been the terminal font for Windows systems since the 1990s (and Lucida Grande on Macs). Over time it's often chosen for designs because of this visual quirk. 

Which kind of adaptation exactly was that? When the Lucida fonts started to appear in 1984, punched cards were still on the market, many monitors were monochrome (probably, MDA), and with extreme luck you had 4 color to choose from (and with even more luck, you got CGA). The operating system I knew was CP/M.