Norman Joseph Woodland, who co-created the barcode, has died at his New Jersey home at the age of 91.
Woodland worked with university classmate Bernard Silver to create the now ubiquitous thick-and-thin-line system in the 1940s.
The system was patented in the US in 1952, a patent that was later sold for just $15,000 (£9,300).
The modern-day barcode is estimated to be scanned more than five billion times every day.
Atlantic City-born Woodland died on Sunday, his daughter told the New York Times.
Woodland's efforts were years ahead of their time. It took 22 years for the invention to make its first appearance in a US shop - due to the fact the laser technology required to read the lines did not exist.
The first item scanned was a packet of chewing gum in an Ohio supermarket in 1974.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20718362
