Name: Ray Tomlinson

Born: April 23, 1941, in Amsterdam, New York, USA

Death: March 5, 2016 (Age: 74)

  • American programmer who implemented an e-mail system in 1971 on the ARPANET (first system able to send mail between users on different hosts connected to the ARPAnet).
  • Used the @ sign to separate the user from their machine, which has been used in e-mail addresses ever since.

Honors and awards

  • Inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame (2012).
  • Listed at #4 on the MIT150 list of the top 150 innovators and ideas from MIT (2011).
  • Prince of Asturias award (2009).
  • IEEE Internet Award (2004).
  • Discover Magazine’s Innovation Award (2002).

Websites

  • Computer History Museum: Oral History of Raymond Tomlinson