GENISIS OF THE INTERNET

1969 - ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) goes
online in December, connecting four major U.S. universities.
Designed for research, education, and government
organizations, it provides a communications network linking
the country in the event that a military attack destroys
conventional communications systems.


1972 - Electronic mail is introduced by Ray Tomlinson, a
Cambridge, Mass., computer scientist. He uses the @ to
distinguish between the sender's name and network name in
the email address.

                          

1982 - The word “Internet” is used for the first time.

1984 - Domain Name System (DNS) is established, with
network addresses identified by extensions such as .com,
.org, and .edu. Writer William Gibson coins the term
“cyberspace.”




1985 - Quantum Computer Services, which later changes its
name to America Online, debuts. It offers email, electronic
bulletin boards, news, and other information.

                        

1989 - The World (world.std.com) debuts as the first
provider of dial-up Internet access for consumers. Tim
Berners-Lee of CERN (European Laboratory for Particle
Physics) develops a new technique for distributing
information on the Internet. He calls it the World Wide
Web.

                          

1995 - CompuServe, America Online, and Prodigy start
providing dial-up Internet access. Sun Microsystems
releases the Internet programming language called Java.
The Vatican launches its own website, www.vatican.va.