John Shepherd-Barron, Father of ATM, Dead

John Shepherd-Barron is no more. The 84 years old Scottish breathed his last on 20th May 2010 at Inverness’s Raigmore Hospital in northern Scotland.

But who was this John Shepherd-Barron, in the first place?


Well, he was the man credited with inventing something that you and me (and millions of people across the world) use on a regular basis. In fact, it is a key constituent of the modern human civilization. And that is Automated Teller Machine or ATM.


Shepherd-Barron reportedly came up with the concept of ATM in 1965, while he was having bath. And interestingly, he got the idea of ATM from machine dispensing chocolate bars.

By the way, Shepherd-Barron had an “Indian” connection. How? Well, he was born in the small town of Shillong in North-East India.