The idea of representing alphanumeric characters with seven segments started in the early 1900s in order to transmit characters via telegraph and then print them onto paper tape. Shortly after 7-segment displays were being added to large displays where incandescent light bulbs were used to illuminate the individual segments. But the displays weren’t very popular until miniaturized LED versions became available in the early 70s. Let’s take a look at one of the first examples, the Monsanto MAN1 (Monsanto AlphaNumeric).