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The interwebs timeline
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Launch of Sputnik
The first artificial satellite was launched by the USSR in 1957. This made the United States create ARPA, a branch of the DoD that sought to lead the technological advances. -
Baran's proposal and Licklider's idea
Paul Baran, an engineer for the RAND Corporation, introduced the idea of a decentralized network that used packet switching in order to communicate. This model was developed as a proposal for a network that would continue to function even after a nuclear attack.
J.C. R. Licklider was a computer scientist responsible for introducing the idea of an interconnected network of networks that would allow anyone in the world to access information anywhere. His idea is what the internet is today. -
Packet Switching
The first public demosntration of packet switching was done by the British NPL. This was a breakthrough in technology and a crucial checkpoint in the creation of the network we know today. -
Creation of ARPANET
ARPANET was created with the aid of BBN technologies and originally formed by four nodes. These were located in California, and Utah. -
Email
The first email program is created, integrating the @ into addresses. The creation is credited to Ray Tomlinson from BBN Corporation. -
Internet!
In "A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication", Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn used the term internet for the first time. The term was popularized and became the name of the mother of all networks. -
Ethernet and transatlantic communication
Dr. Robert Metcalfe created the ethernet, a coaxial cable that could transport large amounts of data in a quick manner.
SATNET was born, creating the first network connected between the United States and Europe. -
The dreaded spam
First spam email was sent by Gary Thuerk to users of the ARPANET advertising a new range of mini computers. -
CSNET
CSNET was created for those users without access to ARPANET. It was proposed that an interconnection between the two networks should be established. -
TCP/IP and DNS
ARPANET made the TCP/IP protocol a requirement in order for computers to communicate over the network.
DNS (Domain Name Server) is created by the University of Wisconsin. -
Divisions and upgrades of networks and .com
ARPANET was divided into MILNET and ARPANET, the former being a new branch designed for military use. CSNET was upgraded from the 56 kbps lines to T1 1.5 Mbps lines. This upgrade came with a name change to NSFNET, while old lines of the network maintained the CSNET name.
Dr. Jon Postel came up with the idea for the naming of websites as .com, .org, .edu, etc. -
More TCP/IP and T1 lines
More T1 lines were deployed by NSFNET in order to create a larger network.
Dennis Jennings, a new addition to NSFNET, determined that TCP/IP should be mandatory for the whole network. -
IETF
The Internet Engeneering Task Force was created to serve as a forum for contractors to coordinate their projects. -
GIF
Compuserve accidentally relased the GIF format for images. It became a widely used image format that is still seen today.. -
THE WORLD
An ISP known as The World became the first one ever to offer commercial dial-up connection to the public. -
HTML and ARPANET'S END
HTML is introduced by Tim Berners-Lee at a convention in Geneva.
ARPANET is dismantled by the DoD to give space to NSFNET's high speed backbone. -
CSNET
CSNET is dismantled to give space to NSFNET. -
NSFNET upgrade and WWW
The World Wide Web is released.
NSFNET's backbone is upgraded to T3, to a speed of 45 Mbps. -
Web Browsing
Marc Andreessen, NCSA and the University of Illinois develop a graphical user interface to the WWW, called Mosaic for X. It became the first widely used web browser. -
WWW innovations
Pizza hut offers its pizza online for delivery.
First Virtual is opened, the first cyberbank.
Asynchronous Transmission Mode backbone is installed to NSFNET, offering a speed of up to 145 Mbps. -
Fees and eBay
Actionweb is launched, which later became eBay.
Annual fees were imposed by the NSF on domains. The first fee was of $50.
Also, as of the date, the NSF would not allow direct access through its backbone. Only certain companies could sell the access to others. -
Internet2 and Hotmail
Internet2, a network for educational and reasearch purposes, is launched.
Hotmail was also launched in the same year. -
Google!
Google, started in 1996, receives funding from the co-founder of Sun Microsystems. -
Wi-Fi and Napster
Wi-Fi technology becomes standardized.
Napster is released to the public. -
Dot-com bubble
Companies mainly based on the internet came to rise, bringing stocks with them. Peaking in the NASDAQ, it only lasted for so long until the stock fell drastically. -
Wikipedia
Wikipedia launched, creating one of the most used websited of today. -
iTunes
iTunes is launched, creating one of the main song downloaders of today. -
Gmail
Gmail is launched, offering 1 Gb of space for users against the 2 Mb and 4 Mb offered by Hotmail and Yahoo! -
Twitter and Facebook
Twitter is released to the public.
Facebook goes from being a college student network to a world wide network. -
Mobiles
Mobile data traffic exceeded voice data traffic for the entire year for the first time.
