Love or hate them, the patent for ATM machines was granted on June 4, 1973 to Don Wetzel, Tom Barnes, and George Chastain, a group of engineers. Wetzel came up with the idea for the automated money dispenser while standing in line at a Dallas bank. By the end of '73, more than 2,000 ATMS—which sold for $30K a pop—were in use at banks throughout the U.S. Nowadays the machines are as ubiquitous as the lousy $3-plus fees that go along with using them. Despite that, ATMs have obviously changed the way people bank worldwide, as well as the way crooks steal. Happy Birthday!

(Yes, June 4 is actually tomorrow, but the only kind-of business news of note that transpired today in history was the U.S Army trying to get into the video game development business. That turned out well.)