Steve Wilhite, Inventor of the GIF, Dies at 74 from COVID

The inventor of the GIF has died from COVID. Social media would not be as colorful, if it were not for Stephen Wilhite. The American computer scientist invented the GIF, or Graphic Interchange Format, in 1987. Wilhite’s wife Kathleen told NPR, “There’s way more to him than inventing GIF.” He loved trains and camping, and despite retiring in 2001, Steve “never stopped programming.” Stephen Wilhite was 74 years old.