Serious Eats
Happy Birthday to the Bar Code
Break out the cake and party favors; it's the bar code's 35th birthday. Those alternating black and white bars weren't always around to make our shopping experiences easier. The New York Times celebrates the bar code's birthday with some information behind the development and gradual use of this "technological staple of everyday life." You can add this little tidbit to your trivia database: On June 26, 1974, the first bar code was read off a 67¢ 10-pack of Juicy Fruit gum.