Today is the bar code’s 38 anniversary. The first time a bar code was used was June 26, 1974 when a pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum was swiped across the first checkout scanner. This happened at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio.
U.S. grocers and food manufacturers formed a committee in 1970 to find a way that groceries could be scanned electronically at checkout counters. The committee recommended the “Universal Product Code” in 1973.
