1966 1 2 The barcode is first used to identify products in grocery stores. But it isn’t until 1974 that a barcode scanner is installed in a store in Troy, Ohio. The first product that included a barcode was a pack of Wrigley's gum. Agriculture ushers in the Green Revolution by developing high-yield varieties of rice and wheat. By 1970, global production has risen by 20 percent and helped curb starvation.