Curated timeline

Internet History

Track the digital revolution from ARPANET and the birth of the World Wide Web to the dot-com boom, the rise of social media, and the era of ubiquitous connectivity.

• ARPANET First Message (October 29, 1969)

  First message sent over ARPANET between UCLA and Stanford, marking the birth of the internet.

• First Network Email (1971)

  Ray Tomlinson sends first network email and introduces the @ symbol for email addresses.

• TCP/IP Protocol Suite (1974)

  Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn publish protocol for packet network intercommunication, coining 'Internet'.

• USENET Established (1979)

  First major online community platform created, enabling distributed discussion groups.

• ARPANET Adopts TCP/IP (January 1, 1983)

  ARPANET officially switches to TCP/IP protocol suite on 'flag day', standardizing internet communication.

• Domain Name System (1984)

  DNS introduced, replacing numerical IP addresses with human-readable domain names.

• NSFNET Created (1986)

  National Science Foundation creates high-speed network backbone connecting supercomputing centers.

• Internet Relay Chat (1988)

  IRC protocol developed, enabling real-time text communication across the internet.

• World Wide Web Created (1990)

  Tim Berners-Lee creates WWW, HTTP, HTML, and first web browser at CERN.

• First Website Goes Online (August 6, 1991)

  First website (info.cern.ch) published, explaining the World Wide Web project.

• Mosaic Browser Released (February 1993)

  NCSA Mosaic makes the web graphical and user-friendly, sparking widespread adoption.

• Yahoo! Founded (January 1994)

  Jerry Yang and David Filo create Yahoo! as web directory, becoming first major web portal.

• Amazon.com Founded (July 5, 1994)

  Jeff Bezos launches Amazon as online bookstore, pioneering e-commerce.

• Netscape Navigator Released (December 15, 1994)

  Netscape releases Navigator browser, beginning the first browser war.

• eBay Founded (September 3, 1995)

  Pierre Omidyar creates AuctionWeb (later eBay), revolutionizing online auctions and marketplace commerce.

• Internet Commercialized (April 30, 1995)

  NSF lifts restrictions on commercial use of internet, enabling full commercialization.

• SSL Protocol Introduced (1995)

  Secure Sockets Layer protocol enables secure online transactions and encrypted communications.

• Internet Explorer 3.0 Released (August 13, 1996)

  Microsoft releases IE 3.0, intensifying browser wars with Netscape.

• Hotmail Launched (July 4, 1996)

  First major web-based email service launches, revolutionizing email accessibility.

• Netflix Founded (August 29, 1997)

  Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph found Netflix as DVD-by-mail service.

• Google Founded (September 4, 1998)

  Larry Page and Sergey Brin incorporate Google, revolutionizing internet search.

• PayPal Founded (December 1998)

  Confinity (later PayPal) founded, revolutionizing online payments and e-commerce.

• Alibaba Founded (April 4, 1999)

  Jack Ma establishes Alibaba in China, becoming world's largest e-commerce platform.

• Napster Launched (June 1999)

  Shawn Fanning creates Napster, introducing P2P file sharing and disrupting music industry.

• Dot-com Bubble Bursts (March 10, 2000)

  NASDAQ peaks and crashes, ending dot-com boom and reshaping internet economy.

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