Ray Tomlinson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Raymond Samuel Tomlinson
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| Born | April 23, 1941 |
| Died | March 5, 2016 (aged 74) |
| Education | Bachelor's degree in Electrical engineering |
| Occupation | Computer scientist |
| Years active | 1965-2016 |
| Known for | Invention of Email |
| Spouse(s) | Ann Tomlinson |
| Children | 2 |
Raymond Samuel Tomlinson (born April 23, 1941 – died March 5, 2016) was an American computer programmer. He is famous for inventing email as we know it today!
In 1971, Ray created the first program that could send messages between different computers. Before him, you could only send messages to people using the same computer. Ray also came up with using the @ symbol in email addresses. This simple idea changed how people communicate forever! The Internet Hall of Fame said his email program "fundamentally changing the way people communicate." He also helped create important rules for the internet, like those used for websites.
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Early Life and School Days
Ray Tomlinson was born in Amsterdam, New York. His family soon moved to a small village called Vail Mills. He went to school in nearby Broadalbin, New York.
Later, he studied at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York. He worked with IBM while he was there. In 1963, he earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.
After RPI, Ray went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He continued studying electrical engineering. At MIT, he worked on speech technology. He even created a special speech synthesizer for his master's degree project. He received his master's degree in 1965.
Ray's Amazing Career
In 1967, Ray joined a company called Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN Technologies). He helped create the TENEX computer operating system. This system was used for the ARPANET. ARPANET was an early version of the internet.
Ray also wrote a program called CPYNET. This program could send files between computers on the ARPANET. He was asked to improve another program called SNDMSG. SNDMSG sent messages to people using the same computer.
Ray had a brilliant idea! He used parts of his CPYNET program to make SNDMSG send messages to users on other computers. This was the very first email!
The First Email Message
The first email Ray sent was just a test. He didn't save it, and he said it wasn't important. He described it as "something like 'QWERTYUIOP.'" He later said these test messages were "entirely forgettable."
At first, his new email system wasn't seen as a big deal. Ray wasn't even told to work on it by his boss. He just did it "because it seemed like a neat idea." When he showed it to a friend, Ray said, "Don't tell anyone! This isn't what we're supposed to be working on."
Ray preferred to spell "email" without a hyphen. He joked that he was "simply trying to conserve the world's supply of hyphens." He felt the word had been around long enough to drop the hyphen.
Later Life and Passing
Ray Tomlinson passed away at his home in Lincoln, Massachusetts. He died on March 5, 2016, from a heart attack. He was 74 years old.
Awards and Special Honors
Ray Tomlinson received many awards for his groundbreaking work:
- In 2000, he won the George R. Stibitz Computer Pioneer Award.
- In 2001, he received a Webby Award for his lifetime achievements. He was also added to the Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame.
- In 2002, Discover magazine gave him an Innovative Innovating Award of Innovation.
- In 2004, he received the IEEE Internet Award.
- In 2009, he and Martin Cooper won the Prince of Asturias Award for science.
- In 2011, MIT listed him as one of their top 150 innovators.
- In 2012, Ray was welcomed into the Internet Hall of Fame.
- In 2022, April 23 (Ray's birthday) was named Email Day. This is a national holiday to honor him and his invention!
