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1969 - Launch of ARPANET
a small network of computers intended to share scientific research between a handful of universities and military organizations -
1971-Project Gutenberg
Was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital library. -
1971 - The first email
The first network email was sent by computer engineer Ray Tomlinson in 1971. His message, "qwertyuiop", was sent to himself, using ARPANET -
1974 - The first online game
Maze War existed before the internet, but early net pioneers adapted a version for use on ARPANET in 1974, making it a contender for the title of first online game -
1973- Global Connection
Arpanet made the first trans-Atlantic connection with the University College of London -
1975-Modern Email
John Vittal developed the first modern email program, called MSG, which introduced a major technological breakthrough: the addition of "Reply" and "Forward" features. -
1978 - The first spam email
The first spammy email gets sent over ARPANET in 1978 by Gary Thuerk He targeted approximately 400 recipients on ARPANET, promoting a new computer system. -
1987 - Invention of the GIF
Steve Wichita of Compuserve invents the GIF. He will insist its pronunciation should use a hard J sound, like the peanut butter. Animated gifs won't arrive until 1989, and they won't repeat until 1995. -
1988-First Malware
First major malicious internet-based worm attack was released, known as “The Morris Worm”. -
1989 - Dawn of the World Wide Web
Computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee explains a blueprint for the internet in his paper, "Information Management: A Proposal.", he creates three technologies that form the foundation of the internet we use today. -
1989-AOL Is Launched
In 1988, CVC launched PC Link, a service for IBM-compatible PCs developed in a joint venture with Tandy Corporation. After parting ways with Apple in October 1989, CVC renamed the service America Online (AOL). -
1990 - The first search engine
Alan Emtage creates Archie, the world's first internet search engine. Archie makes it much easier to find specific files on the constantly-expanding internet. The same year, the world's first website goes live. -
1991-The first Webcam
The first webcam was invented in 1991 at the University of Cambridge’s Computer Laboratory. It was not created for video conferencing or remote work, but rather to monitor the status of a coffee pot in the Trojan Room -
1991-The First MP3
The first MP3 was developed in 1991 by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany. It was a digital audio file format designed to compress audio data, making it possible to store and transmit music efficiently -
1993 - The Web goes worldwide
CERN makes its web source code public domain, or free for anyone to use. Now anyone who wants to learn can host a server or create a website. -
1993-Government Goes Online
The White House and the United Nations came online, using .gov and .org domain names. -
1994 - World Wide Web standards
Their mission: to make sure the web will be accessible to everyone. -
1996 - The first smartphone
The IBM Simon. Originally released in 1993 but did not gain popularity until '96 Smartphones took the functionality of PDAs to the next level with cellular internet connectivity. -
1995-1997 - Social media goes mainstream
SixDegrees.com introduces user profiles, friend groups, and other features that will soon become standard -
1997 - The first pop-up
An innocent sounding feature of the freshly released JavaScript web language allows online advertisers to create pop-up ads in 1997. -
1998-Google
Google was founded on September 4, 1998, by American computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were PhD students at Stanford University -
1999 - Wi-Fi as we know it
A group of important tech companies forms the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance. -
2005 - The broadband revolution
In 2005, broadband use surpasses dial-up internet usage for the first time. -
2007 - iPhone introduced
Apple revolutionizes the way phone users access the internet when they release the first iPhone. -
2008 - Internet in space
NASA successful tests internet in space via DTN software. -
2010 - Social media becomes a tool of dissent
The Arab Spring shows the world that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can be used to organize grassroots movements quickly. -
2012- Machine learning takes off
recently the internet become fast enough, computers smart enough, and data large enough to make machine learning practical. -
2014 - Smart speakers & virtual assistants
virtual assistants become more popular as smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home come on the market. -
2013 - Smartphones everywhere
For the first time, the majority of American adults (56%) own a smartphone, up from 35% just two years earlier. Among adults ages 25-34, smartphone ownership is closer to 81%. -
2013-2014-5g Technology Being Developed
G technology was still in its early stages of development. While the concept of 5G had been discussed since 2012, actual research and testing began around 2013-2014. -
2022-Present-advancements in AI
ChatGPT, an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, debuts in November 2022. It is initially built on top of the GPT-3.5 large language model. 2023-Google releases Gemini 1.0 Ultra. On June 10, 2024 Apple announced "Apple Intelligence" which incorporates ChatGPT into new IPhones and Siri.