business

The first scanned product was a pack of gum in 1974

Invented by inventor Joe Woodard, the barcode has helped automatize and speed up everyone’s shopping experience. The first barcode was scanned on June 26, 1974, when a person bought a pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio. Since then, over the past 40 years, literally billions of items’ barcodes have been scanned in the name of buying and selling. One of the first 10 barcode readers is now on display at the Smithsonian Museum.

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