Online Computer Science Degree Guide: Internet Timeline

In an era dominated by the Internet, it’s remarkably easy to forget what life was like before it. Even remembering life before Google, Facebook, or Wikipedia can be difficult at times. To put the Internet in greater historical perspective, we’ve assembled a timeline for the non-expert, showing the gradual evolution of the Internet over the past 50 years.

We should probably start by defining the Internet. Firstly, certain analog precursors to the Internet have existed for a long time. The telegraph systems that developed in the middle 19^th Century were the first telecommunications network, in many ways providing the blueprint for the Internet, and the original infrastructure of the Internet. However, we’re going to start our history specifically with a network of computers.

1960-Present

1960-62.

J.C.R. Licklider, a computer scientist working with the U.S. government, writes a set of early papers that propose a networking project known as the “Intergalactic Computer Network,” which would later be shortened to “Internet.”

1963.

Licklider joins the Department of Defense as head of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), sowing the seeds for the development of a research program following his model.

1965.

CTSS, the world’s first e-mail system, is launched at MIT.

1966.

MERIT is established as a computer networking research project among educational institutions in Michigan. While MERIT remained in its research stages until 1972, it remains operational as a regional network today.

1969.

ARPANET, the Department of Defense’s precursor to the Internet, is launched. ARPANET is the first functional computer network to send information through packet-switching, the consolidation of data into a packet transmitted from one computer to another over a shared network.

1971.

ARPANET’s mail function is developed, becoming the direct ancestor of modern e-mail.

1972.

To direct information in the new era of networked computers, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is formed. IANA sets the world’s first IP addresses, something it will continue to do to the present day.

1973.

CYCLADES, another early computer network, is built in France, using a much different set-up than ARPAnet, showing that a computer network based on packet-switching can be built in multiple ways.

1974.

The term “Internet” is first seen in print, as an adjective, in the paper Specification of Internet Transmission Control Program. This paper would provide the basis for TCP/IP, the protocol that would become the sole protocol of the Internet.

1977.

Multiple packet-switching networks are connected for the first time using a common protocol.

1980.

A pair of Duke University students, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis, develop Usenet, a non-moderated predecessor to modern forum sites that remained in wide use through the ’90s, and still remains in limited use today. Usenet would become the source of much modern netiquette, and host the world’s first spam.

Ethernet is developed as a way to connect local area networks (LANs). Today, it is far and away the most popular way to connect LANs.

CompuServe’s CB Simulator is developed as the first instant messaging program.

1983.

ARPANET’s military function is broken of as MILNET. The remainder of ARPANET becomes accessible for civilian use, and is quickly adopted by universities and high-tech corporations.

TCP/IP becomes the only protocol used on the Internet.

The domain name system is established.

1988.

The Morris worm wreaks havoc on the Internet. It is the first worm to get significant coverage in the non-technical press after afflicting perhaps as many as 10% of the computers on the Internet at the time.

1989.

Tim Berners-Lee, a researcher at CERN, proposes a system in which hypertext is used to navigate the Internet.

1990.

Archie is developed to search for files in FTP archives. It is now regarded as the first search engine.

1991.

Berners-Lee develops the World Wide Web as a system of hypertext documents linked together. No longer proprietary, this is what most users have conceived of as “the Internet” since.

Gopher, a rival system to the World Wide Web, is developed. While less popular, it maintains a cult following.

1992.

The Internet Society (ISOC) is founded as a nonprofit to promote education and open development through the Internet.

1993.

Mosaic, the first modern web browser, is developed.

1994.

Netscape Navigator developed. It quickly supplants Mosaic as the leading web browser, taking up a 90% market share.

WebCrawler is developed as the first search engine to search the full text of each webpage.

1995.

Amazon is established, and quickly becomes regarded as the quintessential online retailer.

eBay is founded.

Craigslist founded.

Internet Explorer developed.

1996.

Hotmail becomes the first popular web-based e-mail server.

1998.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is established to oversee top-level domain names and manage IP address space.

Google founded.

1999.

Napster is established, bringing music (and later AV) downloads to the average Internet user.

2000.

After nearly a decade of giddy growth, the Internet economy largely collapses. While many companies remain strong, huge numbers go out of business.

Baidu is established in China, and will become one of the world’s leading search engines and the most popular search engine in China.

2001.

Wikipedia established.

2003.

Myspace becomes one of the first major social networking sites.

Skype is established, allowing for telephone call-like conversations over the Internet, and later, video chat.

2004.

Facebook established.

Flickr established.

2005.

Youtube established, becoming a massive source of popular entertainment and taking up vast amounts of bandwidth.

2006.

Twitter established.

2008.

Netflix adds the capability to instantly view movies and TV shows. Within a few years, it would take up 25% of American bandwidth.

Further Reading

The following links include both other histories of computers and the Internet as well as more detailed accounts of specific events in the timeline.

• The Computer History Museum features a number of online galleries as well as extensive information on computer history.
• Biographies of critical figures in the development of the Internet, hosted by the University of North Carolina.
• ISOC’s Internet history project collects articles and oral histories relating to the development of the Internet.
• A 1993 article in the New Republic gives a good idea of the heady atmosphere surrounding the early days of the Internet.
• A history of Usenet, the forum network that set the tone and etiquette for many of the later developments of the Internet.
• Melih Bilgil has put together an animated, video history of the Internet.
• The first ever webpage, achived.
• The official website of Tim Berners-Lee.
• Berners-Lee’s slideshow on how the web took off.
• Some early maps of ARPANET from the ’60s and ’70s.
• Google’s history of itself has largely paralleled the development of the Internet, encompassing video tubes, social networking, and other innovations.
• A detailed history of the Morris worm from a technical standpoint.
• A slightly out-of-date (2007) but still relevant history of social networking in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
• FastCompany’s brief history of Youtube and its impact.
• The official website of IANA, one of the oldest regulatory agencies affiliated with the Internet.

IMAGE: “Father of the web” Tim Berners-Lee (Source: Wikimedia Commons)