Universal Product Code

Officially called the Universal Product Code, it made its debut in 1974 when a scanner registered 67 cents for a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

The result, a zebralike pattern of vertical black lines, became the basis for the modern bar code — the Universal Product Code — which shook up everything from retail to air travel, marathon races to medical devices.

Later it helped to set up NASA, and helped to invent the Universal Product Code — the bar code.

That pattern became the basis for the Universal Product Code, which was adopted by a consortium of grocery companies in 1973, when cashiers were still punching in all prices by hand.

In the end, it took a massive effort – and massive investments – to get the Universal Product Code adopted by millions of manufacturers, distributors and retailers.