-
1965
Two computers at MIT Lincoln Lab communicate with one another using packet-switching technology. -
1974
The first Internet Service Provider (ISP) is born with the introduction of a commercial version of ARPANET, known as Telenet. -
1976
Queen Elizabeth II hits the “send button” on her first email. -
1982
Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol , as the protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, emerge as the protocol for ARPANET. This results in the fledgling definition of the Internet as connected TCP/IP internets. TCP/IP remains the standard protocol for the Internet. -
1985
Symbolics.com, the website for Symbolics Computer Corp. in Massachusetts, becomes the first registered domain. -
1994
Netscape Communications is born. Microsoft creates a Web browser for Windows 95. -
1994
Yahoo! is created by Jerry Yang and David Filo, two electrical engineering graduate students at Stanford University. The site was originally called Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web. The company was later incorporated in March 1995. -
1995
The first online dating site, Match.com, launches. -
1997
Netflix is founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph as a company that sends users DVDs by mail. -
1998
The Google search engine is born, changing the way users engage with the Internet. -
2001
A federal judge shuts down Napster, ruling that it must find a way to stop users from sharing copyrighted material before it can go back online. -
2003
The blog publishing platform WordPress is launched. -
2006
Twitter launches. The company's founder, Jack Dorsey, sends out the very first tweet: "just setting up my twttr." -
2010
Facebook reaches 400 million active users. -
2010
The social media sites Pinterest and Instagram are launched. -
2012
President Barack Obama's administration announces its opposition to major parts of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act. The successful push to stop the bill, involving technology companies such as Google and nonprofit organizations including Wikipedia and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is considered a victory for sites such as YouTube that depend on user-generated content, as well as "fair use" on the Internet. -
2013
Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee and National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, reveals that the NSA had in place a monitoring program capable of tapping the communications of thousands of people, including U.S. citizens. -
2013
Fifty-one percent of U.S. adults report that they bank online, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. -
2015
Instagram, the photo-sharing site, reaches 400 million users, outpacing Twitter, which would go on to reach 316 million users by the middle of the same year. -
2016
Google unveils Google Assistant, a voice-activated personal assistant program, marking the entry of the Internet giant into the "smart" computerized assistant marketplace. Google joins Amazon's Alexa, Siri from Apple, and Cortana from Microsoft.
