The bar code has changed the world as we know it.

Excerpt: The first product scanned, in Ohio in June 1974, was a packet of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum. It is now on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington.

Fellow IBM employee, Norman Woodland, who died in 2012, is considered the pioneer of the barcode idea, which he initially based on Morse code.

Although he patented the concept in the 1950s, he was unable to develop it. It would take a few more years for Laurer to bring the idea to fruition with the help of low-cost laser and computing technology.