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The U.S. Department of Defense’s ARPANET goes live, linking UCLA and Stanford. The first message “LO” was sent before the system crashed. timetoast -
Ray Tomlinson sends the first electronic message between computers using the “@” symbol to designate addresses.
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ARPANET connects to University College London, marking the first international computer network connection.
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Gary Thuerk sends the first unsolicited bulk email (spam) to 400 ARPANET users, advertising a product demo.
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The word “Internet” is formally adopted, referring to the interconnected network of networks.Link -
On January 1, ARPANET officially adopts TCP/IP, establishing the foundation of the modern Internet.Link -
The DNS replaces cumbersome numeric IP addresses with readable domain names like .com, .org, and .edu. Link -
While working at CERN, Berners-Lee suggests a system of linked hypertext documents accessible via the Internet. Link -
Berners-Lee creates the first website explaining the World Wide Web project, laying out the concept of browsers and servers. Link -
The Mosaic browser makes the web accessible to everyday users, popularizing the Internet.Video -
Amazon sells its first book online, paving the way for e-commerce. Twitter post -
Larry Page and Sergey Brin launch Google, changing how people find information online. Blog -
Napster introduces peer-to-peer music sharing, revolutionizing digital media access. Link -
Mark Zuckerberg and classmates launch Facebook, which begins as a Harvard-only network. Article -
YouTube emerges as the first major video-sharing platform, later bought by Google. Video -
Apple introduces the iPhone, shifting the Internet into the mobile era. Video -
nstagram launches as a photo-sharing app, quickly becoming a social media powerhouse.Blog -
Facebook acquires Instagram for $1 billion, marking one of the biggest early social media acquisitions. Link -
TikTok (originally Douyin in China) launches internationally, quickly becoming the fastest-growing social media app. Blog -
Global internet usage reaches 5 billion people, half the world’s population. Link to video