3. Person: Elwood Edwards

    Innovation: America Online

Every mailbox in the ‘90s would unmistakably have an AOL CD in it at one time or another. Also, the phrase “You’ve Got Mail!” became very popular.

The phrase we know everyone is familiar with was first uttered in 1989 by one Mr Elwood Edwards, whose wife was an employee of Quantum Computer Services (later known as AOL). Edwards sat in his living room with a cassette tape and said these now-utterly popular words along with some other phrases that AOL is known by: “File’s done,” “Welcome” and “Goodbye.”

Edwards’ career later-on flourished because aside from a few engagements where he parodied the AOL catchphrase for the most part,  he has worked as a graphics and film editor at WKYC-TV in Cleveland since 2002.