Johnny O. Reyes.

BSIT 191

The internet has become a vital part of the modern world, inseparable from daily life and
routines. It wasn’t always this way though; the history of the internet started somewhere. From
simple computer networks to global interconnectivity and instantaneous wireless
communications, the rapid and dramatic evolution of the internet can help with understanding the
changing nature of technology and communications.

INTERNET HISTORY TIMELINE

1960’S

The internet as we know it

doesn’t exist until much later, but
internet history starts in the
1960s. In 1962, MIT computer scientist J.C.R. Licklider comes up with the idea for a global
computer network. He later shares his idea with colleagues at the U.S. Department of
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). Work by Leonard Kleinrock,
Thomas Merrill and Lawrence G. Roberts on packet-switching theory pioneers the way to
the world’s first wide-area computer network. Roberts later goes on to publish a plan for
the ARPANET, an ARPA-funded computer network that becomes a reality in 1969. Over
the following years, the ARPANET grows.

1970’S

In 1973, Robert Kahn and

Vinton Cerf collaborate to develop
a protocol for linking multiple
networks together. This later
becomes the Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), a technology that links multiple networks
together such that, if one network is brought down, the others do not collapse. While
working at Xerox, Robert Metcalfe develops a system using cables that allows for transfer
of more data over a network. He names this system Alto Aloha, but it later becomes
known as Ethernet. Over the next few years, Ted Nelson proposes using hypertext to
organize network information, and Unix becomes popular for TCP/IP networks. Tom
Truscott and Steve Bellovin develop a Unix-based system for transferring data over
phone linesvia a dial-up connection. This system becomes USENET.
 1980’S

Dave Farber of the

University of Delaware reveals a
project to build an inexpensive
network using dial-up phone
lines. In 1982, the PhoneNet
system is established and is connected to ARPANET and the first commercial network,
Telenet. This broadens access to the internet and allows for email communication
between multiple nations of the world. In 1981, Metcalfe’s company 3Com announces
Ethernet products for both computer workstations and personal computers; this allows for
the establishment of local area networks (LANs). Paul Mockapetris, Jon Postel and Craig
Partridge create the Domain Name system, which uses domain names to manage the
increasing number of users on the internet. In 1985, the first domain is registered:
symbolics.com, a domain belonging to a computer manufacturer.

1990’S

In 1990, ARPANET is
decommissioned. Tim Berners-
Lee and his colleagues at
CERN develop hypertext
markup language (HTML) and
the uniform resource locator
(URL), giving birth to the first incarnation of the World Wide Web. A watershed year for
the internet comes in 1995: Microsoft launches Windows 95; Amazon, Yahoo and eBay
all launch; Internet Explorer launches; and Java is created, allowing for animation on
websites and creating a new flurry of internet activity. In 1996, Congress passes the
Communications Decency Act in an effort to combat the growing amount of objectionable
material on the internet. John Perry Barlow responds with an essay, A Declaration of the
Independence of Cyberspace. Google is founded in 1998. In 1999, the music and video
piracy controversy intensifies with the launch of Napster. The first internet virus capable
of copying and sending itself to a user’s address book is discovered in 1999.
 2000’S

2000 sees the rise and burst of the dotcom bubble. While myriad internet-based
businesses become present in everyday life, the Dow Jones industrial average also sees
its biggest one-day drop in history up to that point. By 2001, most publicly traded dotcom
companies are gone. It’s not all bad news, though; the 2000s see Google’s meteoric
riseto domination of the search engine market. This decade also sees the rise and
proliferation of Wi-Fi — wireless internet communication — as well as mobile internet
devices like smartphones and, in 2005, the first-ever internet cat video.

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