Stephen Wilhite, Inventor of the Meme-Favorite GIF, Has Died
Wilhite, who lived in Milford, Ohio, won a Webby lifetime achievement award in 2013 for inventing the GIF, which decades after its creation became omnipresent in memes and on social media.
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This article was republished here with permission from The Associated Press, however it is no longer available to read on Snopes.com.
Stephen Wilhite, the inventor of the internet-popular short-video format, the GIF, has died. He was 74. His wife, Kathaleen, said Thursday in a phone interview that he died of COVID on March 14. Wilhite, who lived in Milford, Ohio, won a Webby lifetime achievement award in 2013 for inventing the GIF, which decades after its creation became omnipresent in memes and on social media, often used as a cheeky representation of a cultural moment. Wilhite…
