-
ARPANET
The first connection of computers using 'host to host' technology was made on this day. It occurred between computers in UCLA and Stanford and the characters that they transmitted were 'lo' as the link crashed before they could type 'Login'. -
Email
Ray Tomlinson invented email and developed the first mail user agent (MUA), which allowed users on ARPANET to send electronic mail to each other. -
Unix
Unix was primarily created by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie. It is a multiuser operating system that heavily influenced major operating systems used in web servers and web hosting such as Linux and FreeBSD. -
CYCLADES
A French failed attempt at ARPANET called CYCLADES introduced a key design to the Americans, which was that the host computer should be responsible for data transmission rather than the network itself. This greatly contributed to the development of TCP/IP -
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
While at the Information Science Institute, Jon Postel helped create the first Internet address registry, which later became Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). This administers IP addresses and other critical Internet functions. -
International ARPANET Connection
The first international connection to the ARPAnet is made by the University College of London (England) via NORSAR (Norway). The dream of global connections is becoming reality. The term 'Internet' is born. -
TCP/IP
A proposal was published to link Arpa-like networks together into a so-called “inter-network”, which would have no central control and would work around a transmission control protocol. This proposal coins the term “Internet” for the first time. -
Telenet
Lawrence Roberts helps Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc (BBN) found Telenet, the first public packet data service, a commercial version of ARPAnet. It is the first Internet Service Provider (ISP). -
Email Client
The first modern email program was developed by John Vittal, a programmer at the University of Southern California in 1975. The biggest technological advance this program (called MSG) made was the addition of “Reply” and “Forward” functionality. -
PC Modem
Dale Heatherington and Dennis Hayes created the world's first PC modem, the 80-103A. A modem that offered all the right features at exactly the right price point and connected directly to the phone, something that users had not had the luxury of experiencing until this point. Usually, you'd have to dial the phone manually or use a dialer plugged into the computer. -
CSNET
Lawrence Landweber creates CSNET (Computer Science Network), a network for all US university and industrial computer research groups. -
BBS
The first bulletin board system (BBS) was developed during a blizzard in Chicago in 1978. It is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. The user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. -
ARPANET Transition
The ARPANET changes its core networking protocols from Network Control Programs to the more flexible and powerful TCP/IP protocol suite, marking the start of the modern Internet. -
DNS
A group including Jon Postel, Paul Mockapetris, and Craig Partridge published RFC 882 which created the domain name system (DNS) to make Internet navigation easier. With DNS, users can type hostnames such as “USC-ISIF” instead of “10.2.0.52.” -
DNS Naming
The Domain Name System establishes the familiar .edu, .gov, .com, .mil, .org, .net, and .int system for naming websites. This is easier to remember than the previous designation for websites, such as 123.456.789.10. -
Major Malicious Internet-Based Attack
One of the first major Internet worms was released in 1988. Referred to as “The Morris Worm”, it was written by Robert Tappan Morris and caused major interruptions across large parts of the Internet. -
Protocol Wars
In 1986 European countries at that time were pursuing the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI), while the United States was using the Internet/Arpanet protocol, which eventually won out. -
Internet Growth
By 1987, there were nearly 30,000 hosts on the Internet. The original Arpanet protocol had been limited to 1,000 hosts, but the adoption of the TCP/IP standard made larger numbers of hosts possible. -
Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was first deployed, paving the way for real-time chat and the instant messaging programs we use today. -
AOL
When Apple pulled out of the AppleLink program in 1989, the project was renamed and America Online was born. AOL, still in existence today, later on, made the Internet popular amongst the average internet users. -
Propasal for the World Wide Web
The proposal for the World Wide Web, written by Tim Berners-Lee. It was originally published in the March issue of MacWorld and then redistributed in May 1990. It was written to persuade CERN that a global hypertext system was in CERN’s best interest. It was originally called “Mesh”; the term “World Wide Web” was coined while Berners-Lee was writing the code in 1990. -
ARPANET Shutdown
The system was finally shut down in 1989 and formally decommissioned in 1990. -
HTML
Tim Berners-Lee, a scientist at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, develops HyperText Markup Language (HTML). -
First Web Page
The first web page was created and, much like the first email explained what email was, its purpose was to explain what the World Wide Web was. -
First Graphical Web Browser For The General Public
The first widely downloaded Internet browser, Mosaic, was released in 1993. While Mosaic wasn’t the first web browser, it is considered the first browser to make the Internet easily accessible to non-techies. -
SSL
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption was developed by Netscape, making it safer to conduct financial transactions (like credit card payments) online. -
First Web-Based (webmail) Service
In 1996, HoTMaiL, the first webmail service, was launched. -
IPv6
The Internet Protocol version 6 introduced, to allow for future growth of Internet Addresses. The current most widely used protocol is version 4. IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses allowing for 4.3 billion unique addresses; IPv6, with 128-bit addresses, will allow 3.4 x 1038 unique addresses, or 340 trillion trillion trillion. -
Google
Google went live in 1998, revolutionizing the way in which people find information online. -
Social Media
The term “social media”, believed to be first used by Chris Sharpley, was coined in the same year that “Web 2.0” became a mainstream concept. Social media–sites and web applications that allow its users to create and share content and to connect with one another–started around this period. Digg, a social news site, launched in November of 2004, paving the way for sites such as Reddit, Mixx, and Yahoo! Buzz. -
Facebook
Facebook launched in 2004, though at the time it was only open to college students and was called “The Facebook”; later on, “The” was dropped from the name -
Youtube
YouTube launched in 2005, bringing free online video hosting and sharing to the masses. -
Twitter
Twitter launched in 2006. It was originally going to be called twittr (inspired by Flickr); the first Twitter message was “just setting up my twttr”. -
Netflix
In 2007 Netflix began offering subscribers the option to stream some of its movies and television shows directly to their homes through the Internet. For most subscription plans, the streaming service was unlimited. -
iPhone
The biggest innovation of 2007 was almost certainly the iPhone, which was almost wholly responsible for renewed interest in mobile web applications and design. -
Hulu
Hulu was first launched in 2007, a joint venture between ABC, NBC, and Fox to make popular TV shows available to watch online. -
The Internet turns 40
The Internet marks its 40th anniversary
