The History of the Internet

Packet Switching Method Developed

1962

Paul Baran of RAND Corporation and Donald Davies of the National Physical Laboratory (UK) each independently developed the concept of packet switching, a key technology that underpins the internet.

ARAPNET Established

1969

The ARPANET, which stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, is established by the U.S. Department of Defense's ARPA. The first message is sent between computers at UCLA and Stanford. ARPANET is the precursor to the modern internet.

Email Invented

1971

Ray Tomlinson implemented the first email program on the ARPANET system. It was the first system able to send mail between users on different hosts connected to ARPANET.

SPAM is born

1978

The first spam email is sent.

DNS Introduced

1984

Domain Name System, commonly known as DNS, is introduced, allowing for the use of readable domain names (like ".com" or ".org") instead of numerical IP addresses.

The WWW Goes Public

1991

The World Wide Web becomes available to the public. The first website is created at CERN.

Surfing the Internet is Coined

1992

The term “surfing the internet”
is coined and popularized.

The White House Goes Online

1994

The first White House website went live under the Clinton administration in 1994.

eCommerce is Born

1994

The rise of e-commerce begins with companies like Amazon and eBay launching

Internet Explorer Launched

1995

Internet Explorer is launched in 1995. Created by Thomas Reardon, for many years it was the dominant browser in terms of usage, mainly because it was the default browser on Windows machines, the most widely used desktop operating system.

First Viral Video Debuts

1996

The Dancing Baby, a 3D animation, becomes one of the first viral videos.

1st Cellphone Uses Internet

1996

Nokia releases the Nokia 9000 Communicator, the first cellphone with internet capabilities.

The Birth of Google

1998

Google is officially launched and revolutionizes search engines.

Napster Revolutionizes Music on the Internet

1999

MP3 downloading service Napster launches, overloading high-speed networks in college dormitories. Many colleges ban the service, and it is later shut down for enabling the illegal sharing of music files.

Dot-coms Sink

2000

The dot-com bubble bursts, leading to the collapse of many early internet companies.

Xbox Live Launches

2002

Microsoft launches Xbox Live, its online multiplayer gaming service, revolutionizing online gaming.

Anti-SPAM Act Signed into Law

2003

President George W. Bush signs the CAN-SPAM Act into law, establishing the first national standards for the sending of commercial email.

Facebook is Founded

2004

Facebook is founded, leading to the rise of social media. MySpace and LinkedIn had launched earlier but Facebook gained enormous popularity.

YouTube is Founded

2005

YouTube is founded, revolutionizing online video sharing. The first video, an explanation of what’s cool about elephants, is uploaded by co-founder Jawed Karim on April 23. Google acquires the company a year later.

First iPhone is Released

2007

The first iPhone is released, making mobile internet widely accessible and leading to the rise of mobile apps.

TikTok is Born

2016

TikTok was launched. It became one of the world's most popular social media platforms, using recommendation algorithms to connect content creators with new audiences. In April 2020, TikTok surpassed two billion mobile downloads worldwide.

Covid Changes the Internet Forever

2020

The COVID-19 pandemic leads to a surge in internet usage, remote work, online learning, and streaming services.

AI Takes Over the Internet

2023

Advancements in AI and machine learning are integrated into many online services, including chatbots and recommendation systems.