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 are 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.

They're 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 non-profit 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 introduced civilization and the concept of government.

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

In the ancient Middle East, civilizations like the Acadians and the Samarians developed writing

largely to keep records, and one of the most important uses of records was in trade.

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