Lou Ottens, the former Philips engineer who gave the world its first compact cassette tape, has passed away. According to Dutch news outlet NRC Handelsblad, Ottens was 94 when he died on March 6th.

The man who invented cassette tapes in 1963, which spawned the recording of countless mixtapes for music lovers, has died at age 94. Lou Ottens, while working with the Dutch company Royal Philips, ...

Every Walkman singalong, every road trip compilation, every mix tape to a crush or healing from a breakup or just the thrill of cranking up a boombox — it all goes back to Lou Ottens, the inventor of ...