Source: NEWS & OBSERVER, 12/4/17


When it comes to inventions, North Carolina is best known for the Wright Brothers and our celebrated status as “First in Flight.” But airplanes are far from being our state’s only breakthrough. Back in the 1930s, for example, stores used a burdensome punch card system to track unique products and their prices at the point of sale. After a series of other inelegant tracking solutions, Research Triangle-based IBM engineer George Laurer finally developed the Universal Product Code (UPC) that is now industry standard.

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