Timeline: Internet History

Jan 1, 1957

USSR launches Sputnik

The first artificial earth satellite has been launched into space. The US also forms the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)

Oct 1, 1966

First ARPANET plan

Lawrence G. Roberts created this plan. MIT: "Towards a Cooperative Network of Time-Shared Computers"

Oct 1, 1967

First design paper on ARPANET and first meeting of three packet network teams

The first design paper of ARPANET was published by Larry Roberts. First meeting of the three independent packet network teams were RAND, NPL and ARPA

Jan 1, 1969

ARPANET researched into networking

ARPANET commissioned by DoD for research into networking

Jan 1, 1969

Nodes are stood up as BBN and mini computer

Node 1: UCLA
Function: Network Measurement Center
System,OS: SDS SIGMA 7, SEX
Diagram of the first host to IMP connection Node 2: Stanford Research Institute (SRI)
Network Information Center (NIC)
SDS940/Genie
Doug Engelbart's project on "Augmentation of Human Intellect" Node 3: University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB)
Culler-Fried Interactive Mathematics
IBM 360/75, OS/MVT Node 4: University of Utah
Graph

Jan 1, 1969

Birth of Internet

ARPANET commissioned by DoD for research into networking

Jan 1, 1971

People communicate over a network

15 nodes (23 hosts) on ARPANET.
E-mail invented -- a program to send messages across a distributed network.
E-mail is still the main way of inter-person communication on the Internet today.

Jan 1, 1971

E-mail takes off, Internet becomes a reality

Number of hosts breaks 100.
THEORYNET provides electronic mail to over 100 researchers in computer science (using a locally developed E-mail system and TELENET for access to server).
Mail specification
First demonstration of ARPANET/Packet Radio Net/SATNET operation of Internet protocols over gateways.

Feb 7, 1972

Computers can connect more freely and easily

First public demonstration of ARPANET between 40 machines.
Internetworking Working Group (INWG) created to address need for establishing agreed upon protocols.

Jan 1, 1973

ARPA studys

the study shows how email composing 75% of all ARPANET traffic

Feb 7, 1976

Networking comes to many

Queen Elizabeth sends out an e-mail.
UUCP (Unix-to-Unix CoPy) developed at AT&T Bell Labs and distributed with UNIX.

Jan 1, 1984

Growth of Internet

Number of hosts breaks 1,000.
Domain Name Server (DNS) introduced.

Jan 1, 1989

Growth in Internet

Number of hosts breaks 100,000
First relays between a commercial electronic mail carrier and the Internet
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) comes into existence under the IAB

Jan 1, 1989

Friendly User Interface to WWW established

Gopher released by Paul Lindner and Mark P. McCahill from the U of Minnesota.

Jan 1, 1993

The WWW Revolution truly begins

Number of Hosts 2 Million. 600 WWW sites.
InterNIC created by NSF to provide specific Internet services
directory and database services
registration services
information services
Business and Media really take notice of the Internet.
US White House and United Nations (UN) comes on-line.
Mosaic takes the Internet by storm.

Jan 1, 1996

Microsoft enter

12.8 Million Hosts, 0.5 Million WWW Sites.
Internet phones catch the attention of US telecommunication companies who ask the US Congress to ban the technology (which has been around for years)
The WWW browser war begins , fought primarily between Netscape and Microsoft, has rushed in a new age in software development, whereby new releases are made quarterly with the help of Internet users eager to test upcoming (beta) versions

Feb 7, 1997