The first email was sent in the 1970s. Specifically, the pioneering email transmission occurred in 1971, when Ray Tomlinson, a computer engineer, sent a test message to himself over the ARPANET, the precursor to the internet. This groundbreaking event marked the beginning of electronic mail, which would revolutionize communication. Tomlinson used the "@" symbol to denote the recipient's computer address, a convention that persists in today's email systems. The development of email has since transformed personal and professional communications across the globe.