History of the Internet

  • J.C.R. Licklider

    Proposed the idea of a network of computers that could communicate.
  • Packet-switching

    Two computers at MIT Lincoln Lab communicate with one another using packet-switching technology.
  • The ARPANET

    The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, created by the U.S. Department of Defense, was used to send the first ever message from one computer to another. Only 4 computers were on this network by the end of the year.
  • Period: to

    TCP/IP

    The development of Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol, or TCP/IP, by scientists Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf.
  • Email

    Ray Tomlinson developed the first system used to send mail back and forth between users of ARPANET.
  • Period: to

    Bigger Network

    Addition of ALOHAnet from the University of Hawaii and various networks from London and Norway to the ARPANET.
  • Telenet

    The first Internet Service Provider (ISP) is born with the introduction of a commercial version of ARPANET, known as Telenet.
  • ARPANET and TCP/IP

    ARPANET adopted the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol.
  • World Wide Web

    Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web.
  • ERWISE

    Creation of ERWISE (the first commonly available internet browser with a graphical user interface).
  • Dial-up Internet

    Dial-up internet was first offered commercially in by Sprint.
  • Period: to

    Surfing the Web

    In 1993 MOSAIC was created, and inspired by it, NETSCAPE navigator was created in 1994.
  • IPV6

    The Internet Protocol version 6 introduced, to allow for future growth of Internet Addresses.