On This Day in Tech History

On June 26, 1974, the first barcode scanner was used to scan a pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, USA. This event marked a major milestone in the history of retail and technology, as it ushered in a new era of automated inventory tracking and product management. The barcode scanner was developed by a team of engineers led by Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver in the 1940s and 1950s. The system used a series of lines and spaces of varying widths to represent numerical data, which could be read by a scanner and translated into product information. The use of barcodes and barcode scanners revolutionized the retail industry, allowing for more accurate and efficient inventory tracking, faster checkout times, and better customer service. Today, barcodes are used in a wide range of applications beyond retail, including healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics. The first barcode scanner used in the US in 1974 was a handheld device that was connected to a computer system. It was able to scan the barcode on the pack of gum and record the sale of the item.

On June 26, 2000, the first draft of the human genome was announced, marking a major milestone in the history of genetics and biotechnology. The Human Genome Project, a joint international research effort, had been working for more than a decade to sequence and map the entire human genome, which contains the complete set of genetic instructions that make each person unique. The announcement of the first draft of the human genome was a major scientific achievement, as it represented the culmination of years of research and collaboration. The project involved the work of hundreds of scientists from around the world, who used a combination of high-tech laboratory techniques and computer algorithms to sequence and analyze the genetic code.