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J.C.R. Licklider of MIT popularizes the concept of an "Inter-network" of computers, which becomes the basis for future networking ideas. -
Paul Baran and Donald Davies independently develop the concept of packet switching, which breaks data into smaller packets for transmission across a network. -
The U.S. Department of Defense launches ARPANET, the first operational packet-switching network and the precursor to the modern internet. The first message ever sent was “LO,” which was supposed to be “LOGIN” but the system crashed after two letters. -
Ray Tomlinson sends the first email between two computers on ARPANET. He also introduces the use of the "@" symbol to separate the user’s name from the machine's name. -
Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn develop the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), foundational technologies for the modern internet. -
The first demonstration of TCP/IP networking between two computers on different networks occurs. -
The Domain Name System (DNS) is introduced to help map human-readable domain names to IP addresses, simplifying navigation. -
The domain name "symbolics.com" is registered by Symbolics Inc., becoming the first commercial .com domain. -
Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist at CERN, proposes the World Wide Web (WWW), a system to link documents via hyperlinks over the internet. -
The World Wide Web is publicly launched, with the first website being info.cern.ch. It introduces the first web browser, called WorldWideWeb (later renamed Nexus).
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The Mosaic web browser is released by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), bringing a graphical user interface to the internet and making the web accessible to a wider audience beyond scientists and engineers. -
Netscape Navigator becomes one of the first widely used web browsers. -
The commercialization of the internet accelerates with the launch of Amazon.com, eBay, and the founding of major ISP providers like AOL and EarthLink.
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Larry Page and Sergey Brin found Google, revolutionizing the way people search the web. -
The free online encyclopedia Wikipedia is founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, revolutionizing user-generated content. -
Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard roommates launch Facebook, originally for university students, which soon becomes a global social media phenomenon. -
YouTube is founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, changing the way people share and consume video content. -
The first video ever uploaded to YouTube was "Me at the zoo", uploaded by Jawed Karim, a co-founder of YouTube -
Apple releases the iPhone, which becomes a key device in making the internet mobile and accessible anywhere. -
The first Instagram post was a picture of a stray dog taken in Mexico by Kevin Systrom, one of the app's co-founders, and was captioned "test"; it was uploaded a few months before the official launch of Instagram -
Instagram is launched, popularizing photo-sharing and social networking on mobile devices. -
The concept of interconnected devices, from smart home products to wearables, becomes more mainstream.
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Streaming services like Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon Prime become dominant ways of consuming entertainment content. -
The global pandemic forces many activities to shift online, from work to education and entertainment, further solidifying the internet as an essential infrastructure.
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The rise of blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and decentralized applications (dApps) mark the beginning of Web 3.0, promising a new phase of the internet centered around decentralization.
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AI technologies, including ChatGPT, are increasingly integrated into the internet, offering advanced tools for communication, automation, and creativity.