Email inventor, Ray Tomlinson, dead at age 74

Ray Tomlinson, the inventor of modern email, has died.

Raytheon Co, his employer, confirmed his death on Sunday with no details immediately available.

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.

Tomlinson chose the "@" ("at") symbol to connect the username with the destination address and it has now become a cultural icon.

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.