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Commerce & Finance · Recorded milestone

Barcode scanning

Recorded year1974

A pack of gum is the first product sold by scanning a UPC barcode.

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Built on

Stored-program computerRecorded · 1948requires
Integrated circuitRecorded · 1958enables
LaserRecorded · 1960enables
UPC barcode symbolRecorded · 1973enables

Led to

Scanner-panel test marketsRecorded · 1979enables
RFID supply-chain tagsRecorded · 2003enables

Sources & evidence

Additional source

Dataset updated 2026-10-18. This individual record has not been separately re-reviewed.