Ray Tomlinson, widely credited as the creator of email, has died, his employer, Raytheon, told CNN on Sunday. He was 74. Tomlinson invented direct email messages in 1971. Before his invention, electronic messages could be shared only on a very limited network. Read more http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/06/us/ray-tomlinson-email-creator-obit/index.html