GIF animation creator Stephen Wilhite dies aged 74

It has been reported that Stephen Wilhite, the tech wizard who designed the looping animated image format known as the GIF, died last week.

Stephen Wilhite died on March 14, after celebrating his 74th birthday 11 days earlier, according to an online obituary published on March 23.

GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format, and it’s a looping image format that’s become popular on social networking.

Wilhite’s friends and family will gather in Milford, Ohio on March 21 for a memorial service.

After stepping away from the internet realm, he is regarded as an ardent traveler and camper.

“Steve resigned from America Online as Chief Architect, was the inventor of the GIF, and earned the Webby Lifetime Achievement Award in New York,” according to his obituary.

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