Tomlinson was the man that basically invented email as we know it today, including making the choice to use the "@" sign in an email address. He was 75.
Tomlinson invented email, a system where a user on one network could send a message to someone on another network, in 1971.
He proceeded to win many awards over his lifetime for email. But he couldn't say what the first email ever sent actually said.
When asked about it in an interview with the New York Times in 2009, Tomlinson explained, "I sent a number of test messages to myself from one machine to the other. The test messages were entirely forgettable and I have, therefore, forgotten them."
On Saturday, the man widely recognized as the grandfather of the internet, Vint Cerf, tweeted the news that Tomlinson had passed away.
Very sad news: Ray Tomlinson has passed away. https://t.co/Ghi8B2m3IX
- vinton g cerf (@vgcerf) March 5, 2016