Ray Tomlinson, inventor of email, dies at 74

Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of modern email, has died. He was 74 years old, according to multiple email reports.

Raytheon Co., his employer, on Sunday confirmed his death; the details were not immediately available. According to reports, the American programmer died of an apparent heart attack on Saturday. 

Email existed in a limited capacity before Tomlinson in that electronic messages could be shared amid multiple people within a limited framework. But until his invention in 1971 of the first network person-to-person email there was no way to send something to a specific person at a specific address.

In 2012, Tomlinson was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame by the Internet Society.

It is said that Tomlinson sent the very first email in 1971 while working as an engineer for research company Bolt, Beranek and Newman, in Boston. The company played a big role in developing an early version of the Internet, known as ARPANET. Tomlinson chose the "@" ("at") symbol to connect the username with the destination address and it has now become a cultural icon.

At the time, the character was used almost exclusively by grocers and accountants. Its use made good sense to an English speaker, shifting definitions from a rate or amount of something to a location.

"It's the only preposition on the keyboard," Tomlinson has said.

While he was a holder of numerous awards and other accolades, co-workers say he was humble and modest. And, surprisingly, not a frequent checker of email.