Bar code patent issued 60 years ago today to Drexel researchers
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Tom Paine
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| Illustration from original bar code patent |
Silver later taught physics at Drexel but died in 1963 at the age of 38. Woodland, who just turned 91, later had a role in helping IBM implement the bar code.
The bar code did not come into widespread commercial use until the mid-1970s. IBM and the supermarket industry led efforts to develop standards, and with the invention of Uniform Product Code (U.P.C) in 1973, the use of bar codes in supermarkets first began in 1974.
This infographic published by a bar code technology firm gives a short version of the bar code's history.
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