Tech feed
1974
On 26 June 1974, a pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum became the first product scanned in a retail UPC transaction at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The milestone joined a standardized product identifier to a working checkout system.
1991
The camera widely remembered as the first webcam watched a coffee pot at Cambridge in 1991, initially over a local network. It became accessible through the World Wide Web in November 1993.
1964
The first mouse prototype in Douglas Engelbart’s research program was built in 1964 with a wooden body. Engineer Bill English constructed the device, which tracked movement using two perpendicular wheels.