raises the idea that the RDBMS (relational database) is among the most influential inventions ever.

Its effect on society is far less visible to the average person on the street than say the Internet or nukes, but it runs most the key systems and infrastructure of society. It allows quick access to billions of data items via almost any attribute. Before, you had to be selective about which attributes you could search, group, and sort on.

It outlasted and out-competed its competitors such as hierarchical and navigational databases, object databases, and even survived the "no-sql" movement (fad?) by making relatively minor changes to scale better.

It's the "Office Space" Milton of IT: Does most the real work, stuck in the basement, lacks a snazzy interface, and gets no respect.