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the ARPANET node at UCLA’s School of Engineering and Applied Science connected with the node at SRI International (SRI) in Menlo Park, California -
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Ray Tomlinson created an electronic messaging system for ARPANET, which was a precursor to the internet. He also decided to use the “@” symbol to separate the user name from the computer name (which later became the domain name) -
Was a global effort to make books and documents in the public domain available electronically–for free–in a variety of eBook and electronic formats. -
Maze War existed before the internet, but early net pioneers adapted a version for use on ARPANET in 1974, making it a contender for the title of the first online game. -
The first spammy email was sent over ARPANET in 1978 which brought the first unsolicited commercial email message and was sent out to 600 California Arpanet users by Gary Thuerk -
Many people credit Kevin MacKenzie with the invention of the emoticon in 1979, but it was Scott Fahlman in 1982 who proposed using 🙂 after a joke, rather than the original. -
Steve Wichita of CompuServe invents the GIF. He will insist its pronunciation should use a hard J sound, like the peanut butter. Animated gifs won't arrive until 1989, and they won't repeat until 1995. -
Computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee explains a blueprint for the internet in his paper, "Information Management: A Proposal.", he creates three technologies that form the foundation of the internet we use today. -
When Apple pulled out of the AppleLink program in 1989, the project was renamed and America Online was born. It made the Internet popular amongst the average Internet users. -
Alan Emtage, a college student in Montreal, created the first search engine for a school project. The search engine was known as the Archie Index. Archie makes it much easier to find specific files on the constantly-expanding internet. -
CERN makes its web source code public domain, or free for anyone to use. Now anyone who wants to learn can host a server or create a website. -
The code for the World Wide Web was written by Tim Berners-Lee, based on his proposal from the year before, along with the standards for HTML, HTTP, and URLs. Their mission was to make sure the web would be accessible to everyone. -
Smartphones took the functionality of PDAs to the next level with cellular internet connectivity. -
Andrew Weinreich created Six Degrees, and introduces user profiles, friend groups, and other features that will soon become standard. -
An innocent sounding feature of the freshly released JavaScript web language allows online advertisers to create pop-up ads in 1997. -
Google went live in 1998, revolutionizing the way in which people find information online. -
A group of important tech companies forms the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance. -
With the dotcom collapse still going strong, Wikipedia launched in 2001, one of the websites that paved the way for collective web content generation/social media. -
Was a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it was the first social network to reach a global audience and had a significant influence on technology, pop culture and music. -
YouTube launched in 2005, bringing free online video hosting and sharing to the masses. -
Apple revolutionizes the way phone users access the internet when they release the first iPhone. -
NASA successfully tests the internet in space via DTN software. -
For the first time, the majority of American adults (56%) own a smartphone, up from 35% just two years earlier. Among adults ages 25-34, smartphone ownership is closer to 81%.