Internet backbone

The History of the Internet

  • DARPA Formed

     DARPA Formed
    Advanced Research Projects Agency created in response to the USSR's launch of Sputnik. The agency creates a communications network between several major U.S. universities with national defense in mind.
  • Period: to

    Internet History

  • Host-Based Mail Systems Introduced

    Host-Based Mail Systems Introduced
    MIT's Compatible Time-Sharing System was used to share files from a central disk. Infromal uses of this were the forerunner of modern Email.
  • TCP/IP Standardized

    TCP/IP Standardized
    The U.S. Department of Defense set TCP/IP as the standard for military computer networking. This event led to the concept of a world-wide network of networks: the internet.
  • DNS Established

    DNS Established
    The Domain Name System uses extensions on addresses such as .com, .edu, & .gov. The system associates information with easy to use domain names.
  • The Internet Worm

    The Internet Worm
    a.k.a. the "Morris Worm", this virus temporarily shut down 10% of the world's internet servers. It resulted in the first conviction under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
  • World Wide Web Conceptualized

    World Wide Web Conceptualized
    Tim Berners-Lee, a computer scientist at CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics), envisions it as a more effective way to communicate at CERN. He soon realized that the system could be implemented around the world. The "Web" is based on hypertext and would link sites on the internet via hypertext.
  • First Provider of Dail-Up for Consumers

    First Provider of Dail-Up for Consumers
    The World becomes the 1st provider of dail-up for consumers.
  • Spam

    Spam
    Commerce sites begin to launch and begin mass marketing campaigns through email. This introduces the term "spamming" to internet terminology. The word was named after the food (spiced ham) after its similar use in a Monty Python sketch.
  • Java

    Java
    Sun Microsystems releases Java: an internet programming language.
  • Pathfinder

    Pathfinder
    NASA broadcasts images from the Pathfinder Mars mission on their website. The site gets 46 million hits in one day; breaking internet traffic records.
  • Google Inc. Founded

    Google Inc. Founded
    Company opens its first office in Menlo Park, California.
  • 150 Million Users Online

    150 Million Users Online
    More than 50% of users are from the USA.
  • Myspace Launched

    Myspace Launched
    It was the most visited social networking site in the world from 2005 to 2008; even surpassing Google at times.