History of the Internet

By connorcrowley

  • Cooke and Wheatstone patent Morse code

  • Transatlantic cable

    The first transatlantic cable is installed between Ireland & Canada.

  • First electronic digital computer built.

    The 700-pound desk-size system was finished in 1942.

  • IBM President Thomas J. Watson declared, "There is a world market for about five computers.“

  • Russia launches Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite

  • US Department of Defense establishes the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).

  • Period: to

    Packet-switching (PS) networks developed

  • Birth of Internet

    Four computers were linked to form ARPAnet

  • People communicate over a network

    15 nodes (23 hosts) on ARPANET.

  • Networking comes to many

    Queen Elizabeth sends an email

  • Global Networking becomes a reality

    First international connections to the ARPANET
    Ethernet outlined
    Internet ideas started.
    Gateway architecture sketched on back of envelope in hotel lobby in San Francisco.
    File Transfer protocol specified

  • E-mail takes off, Internet becomes a reality

    Number of hosts breaks 100.

  • Usenet is developed

    allows anyone who connects to the network to read and post articles on a variety of subjects.

  • TCP/IP defines future communication

    DCA and ARPA establishes TCP/IP, for ARPANET.

  • Growth of Internet Continues

    Domain Name Server (DNS) introduced. Eg instead of 123.456.789.10 we now have www.cs.cf.ac.uk

  • Power of Internet Realised

    5, 000 Hosts. 241 News groups.
    500% growth since 1984

  • Commercialisation of Internet Born

    Number of hosts 28,000

  • Most Important development to date

    World-Wide Web (WWW) released by CERN; Tim Berners-Lee developer.

  • Multimedia changes the face of the Internet

    Number of hosts breaks 1 Million
    First audio multicast (March) and video multicast (November).
    The term "Surfing the Internet" is coined by Jean Armour Polly.

  • The WWW Revolution truly begins

    Business and Media really take notice of the Internet
    US White House and United Nations (UN) comes on-line
    Mosaic takes the Internet by storm

  • Commercialisation begins

    Shopping malls, banks arrive on the Internet
    You can now order pizza from the Hut online in the US.
    First Virtual, the first cyberbank, open up for business

  • Microsoft enter

    The WWW browser war begins , fought primarily between Netscape and Microsoft,
    heralds a new age in software development, whereby new releases are made quarterly with the help of Internet users eager to test upcoming (beta) versions.

  • Mozilla Firefox 1.0 released

    Mozilla Firefox 1.0 released, which later became Microsoft Internet Explorer's biggest competitor since Netscape Navigator.

  • The first live Internet link into low earth orbit was established

    The first live Internet link into low earth orbit was established