On June 26, 1974, the first product with a UPC code was scanned by
a cash register.
Here are some things you may not know about the system.
First, early ideas for methods to quickly scan
items involved punch cards, bulls-eye symbols and color codes.
Eventually a grocery industry group agreed on a proposal from IBM
which uses the lines of varying widths we know today.
Second, the code includes a beginning and an end so that the
scanner can determine which way the code is oriented. each line of
the code equates to the numbers that are printed below them.
Third, the first UPC scanned was on a package of Wrigley's Juicy
Fruit Gum. It was purchased by Clyde Dawson from cashier Sharon
Buchanan at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The pack of gum cost
67 cents.