History of the Internet:

A Timeline

(based on information provided by PBS at www.pbs.org)

Beginning in 1962: ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency, now known as DARPA) begins planning the first "global" network of computers. This small network, known as ARPANET, would consist of several supercomputers shared by researchers in the U.S.

1962-1965: The RAND Corporation begins looking into network communications for the military; ARPA sponsors research into a time-share computer network.

1967-1969: The first official plans for ARPANET are discussed and implemented. Stanford Research Institute, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah are the first participants.

1970-1973: ARPANET becomes an email forum for researchers collaborating on projects and discussing topics of interest. The network is a hit - the number of participants grows to 23.

1972: Vinton Cerf is elected the first chairman of INWG (Internetworking Working Group), a standard-setting entity for ARPANET. He quickly becomes known as the "Father of the Internet."

1973: ARPANET becomes an international network with members in England and Norway.

1974: TELENET opens the first commercial version of ARPANET.

1979: The First USENET news groups are set up by three college students. News groups become a popular use for the growing Internet.

1981: ARPANET grows to 213 hosts around the world.

Mid-1980's: Bob Kahn and Vinton Cerf help establish TCP/IP, the Internet language. The Internet, as we know it today, is created. Computer use booms.

1987: The number of Internet hosts jumps to 10,000.

1988: The first recorded "Internet sabotage" occurs when a hacker distributes the "Internet Worm" and disables over 6,000 hosts.

1990: ARPANET is decommissioned, leaving only the Internet's "network of networks" in service.

1991: Hypertext language is developed in Switzerland; for the first time, graphics are possible on the Internet.

1993: The National Science Foundation lifts it's ban on commercial use of the Internet. Electronic commerce begins in full force. Gopher, the first "point & click" tool for the Internet, is introduced by the University of Minnesota. Mosaic, the first graphics based Web browser, becomes available.

1994: Netscape Communications Corp. is established.

1996: Over 40 million people are on the Internet and over $1 Billion in commerce is conducted on the Web each year.

1997 and on: The Internet keeps growing..........

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