'On Friday, #WardChristensen, co-inventor of the computer bulletin board system (#BBS), died at age 78 in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Christensen, along with #RandySuess, created the first BBS in Chicago in 1978, leading to an important cultural era of digital community-building that presaged much of our online world today.'

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/10/ward-christensen-bbs-inventor-and-architect-of-our-online-age-dies-at-age-78/