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Computer Science is established as an academic discipline
Computer science began to be recognized as a discipline throughout the 50s and into the early 60s, but IBM, in partnership with Columbia, was the first to offer it as a course in 1946. This led to an early idea of "time sharing," which is the use of a computing resource between multiple users at once and eventually led to the more complex idea of the internet. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/can-studying-mathematics-and-computer-science-be-as-creative-as-the-arts/93425/ -
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J.C.R. Licklider's ideas for using computers for global networking
In 1962, Licklider wrote a series of memos theorizing an "Intergalactic Computer Network." At the time, computers were used for strictly scientific and mathematical purposes, but he outline possible features like cloud computing, digital libraries, and e-commerce. While working at DARPA, his work with time-sharing led to the creation of ARPAnet, a rudimentary computer network for the military which later became the basis for the modern Internet. -
CYCLADES network created
The CYCLADES network was an early packet switching network and a critical influence for the ARPAnet later on. It was the first network to make the host reliable for data delivery instead of the network itself. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.allbids.com.au%2Fc%2Fcomputers-it%2Fnetworking%2Favocent-cyclades-acs48-network-switch-690930&psig=AOvVaw1qJP96PO2FQRmPyOoAP52A&ust=1630894037123000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCPix2_Lf5vICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD -
Dr. Lawrence Roberts commercializes computer networking
After working on ARPAnet for six years, during which time he advanced the idea of packet switching (the transfer of small pieces of data across various networks) and developed the idea behind electronic mail, he went on to work with or found commercial companies focused on the internet and networking. Among them was Telenet, the first packet data communications company. He is considered one of the fathers of the modern internet. -
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TCP/IP protocols written
DARPA scientists Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn wrote the TCP/IP protocol suite, now known as the most popular network protocol in the world. They allow digital computers to communicate over long distances through packet-switchin. The TCP collects and reassembles data packets after they are sent and IP makes sure the packets go to the right place. -
Domain Name System (DNS) is created
As use of the internet and networking in general grew, it became harder to navigate the growing number of sites. It allows people to use names for anything instead of having to keep track of individual IP addresses. This made the internet greatly more accessible for casual use. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fperformanceconnectivity.com%2Fdns%2F&psig=AOvVaw3CLM1kfQ2WZf3zJdmIU9q_&ust=1630894075671000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCNC_hoXg5vICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD -
The National Science Foundation funds supercomputing programs
The NSF funded a grant to create the Computer Science Network (CSNET) to provide networking services for supercomputers to universities. It was intended the supercomputers be shared around the country by scientists and engineers. They launched NSFNET and connected to regional research education networks extending the internet through the U.S. This was the first large-scale use of the Internet on multiple independently networks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Foundation -
Internet Service Providers created
When the internet began, it was only for government agencies and universities and commercial internet service providers were banned by the National Science foundation. In 1989, "The World" became the first commercial ISP and provided dial up internet to the general public. They did very well in their first two years, and many others followed suit. Connections were very slow, but they sped up with Digital Subscriber Lines and then satellites. https://warosu.org/g/?task=page&page=23362 -
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The Digital Revolution
The Digital Revolution refers to the period of humans moving from analog and mechanical technology to widely digital. Technically it can be traced as far back as the 40s, its true force and speed wasn't until the World Wide Web launched. After the Internet became widespread, the change became exponentially quicker. -
Tim Berners-Lee launches the World Wide Web
British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee, working as software engineer at CERN came up with the World Wide Web as a solution to an information sharing problem he noticed at work. While developing it he created HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs aka URLs), and HyperText Transfer Protocols. He also wrote the first web browser and web server and launched the World Wide Web at the end of 1990. https://www.pngegg.com/en/png-hrbnw -
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History of Internet Browsers
The World Wide Web launched as the first and only web browser at the time. Since then, there have been numerous others to come out:
-1992: Lynx
-1993: Mosaic
-1994: Netscape Navigator
-1995: Internet Explorer
-1996: Opera
-2003: Safari
-2004: Firefox
-2007: Mobile Safari
-2008: Google Chrome
-2011: Opera Mini
-2015: Microsoft Edge -
The Federal Networking Council is formed
In order to regulate the growing network, the Federal Networking council was formed as a forum for federal agencies to work together on networking projects. It also created a formal definition for the internet.