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Most *nix tools have their origins in the ‘70s-80s.

Email as a technology is ancient by today’s standards. SMTP protocol got established in 1982. Even sendmail dates as far back as the ‘70s.

This is a pretty good talk on the history of email: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrGfahzt-4Q

Another great article

And the earlier technology of homing pigeons goes back even further