This is an I-Heart podcast.

And we continue with our American stories.

Our next story comes to us from a man who's simply known as the History Guy.

His videos are watched by hundreds of thousands of people of all ages over on YouTube.

The History Guy is also heard here at Our American Stories.

Barcodes on most products properly called a UPC or universal product code or a necessity for everyday

life.

Here's the history guy with the story.

They become so common that they're on virtually every consumer product that you might

buy from a box of cookies to an action figure to every automobile that has been built since

1981. There are on mail, they're on scannable tickets, in COVID concerns

they were used to access restaurant menus. Barcodes have become so ubiquitous

that we take them for granted but barcodes are an absolute necessity in the modern world.

There would allow the vast and complex trade networks and supply chains of the modern world

to function. According to GS1, which is a nonprofit that maintains barcode standards,

there were some 5 billion barcode scanned every day. In 2012, it is

history that deserves to be remembered.

Humans have engaged in trade for millennia, far back into prehistory. For most of human existence,

this was done by bartering, impromptu trading sessions that involve personal negotiations of goods

and services without any money involved.

As societies grew more complex, bartering became less convenient, especially when humans introduce civilization and the concept of government.

Civilizations grew, economies developed, and trade grew increasingly complex.

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