A Timeline of Internet History

A Timeline of Internet History

Want to know who invented the internet? Or when DSL was hot? Check out our handy timeline of internet history for a quick review.

1962: The Birth of Satellite Communications

Who: Bell Labs

Where: United States

Why It Mattered: The first commercial communications satellite, Telstar 1, laid the foundation for satellite internet access. Satellite internet is still the only form of internet available to large areas of the earth. It is crucial for digital opportunity, national defense, and military operations.

1969: The Birth of the Internet

Who: U.S. Department of Defense, Leonard Kleinrock, Paul Baran, Donald Davies

Where: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and other U.S. research institutes

Why It Mattered: Teams across the country plan and start ARPANET. The project represents the beginning of a global network fostering collaboration and information exchange. Donald Davies coins the word “packet” to describe a unit of data. The first host-to-host connection happens from UCLA to the Stanford Research Institute on October 29, 1969 [1].

1971: The First Email

Who: Ray Tomlinson

Where: ARPANET

Why It Mattered: Email became a cornerstone of internet communication, revolutionizing personal and professional correspondence. In addition to inventing the first email app, Ray Tomlinson created the @symbol as the hallmark of an email address [2].

1978
First spam email

1972: Cable TV Takes Off

Who: Charles Dolan, Gerald Levin (Sterling Manhattan Cable)

Where: United States

Why It Mattered: In 1972, the launch of the first pay-TV network, Home Box Office (HBO), contributed to the later development of cable internet access. Though cable TV was first invented in the 1950s, it had reached 25% of American households in 1981 and 90% by 2010 [3]. The widespread installation of coaxial cable prepared the way for today’s most common high-speed internet: cable internet.

1978: The First Spam Email

Who: Gary Thuerk

Where: ARPANET

Why It Mattered: Spam email marked the beginning of online advertising and raised issues about internet security [4].

1979: 1G Mobile

Who: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone

Where: Tokyo, Japan

Why It Mattered: 1G became the first generational mobile network in the world. 1G made its debut to the citizens of Tokyo, marking the beginning of mobile telecommunication [5].

1985: The First “Dot-com" Debuts

Who: Symbolics, Inc.

Where: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Why It Mattered: Symbolics registered the URL “Symbolics.com” as the first business to use the dot-com extension [6]. This innovation reflected the first gestures toward commercialization of the internet, paving the way for online businesses.

1988: DSL Technology Patented

Who: AT&T Bell Labs

Where: United States

Why It Mattered: DSL technology was patented, revolutionizing high-speed internet connections through phone lines [7]. DSL was ten times faster than the painfully flow dial-up internet that came before it. Two years after the original patent, Joseph W. Lechleider invented the concept of aDSL (asymmetrical DSL) which was crucial to those increased speeds.

1989

1989: The Invention of the World Wide Web

Who: Tim Berners-Lee

Where: CERN, Switzerland

Why It Mattered: The World Wide Web made the internet user-friendly, facilitating the creation and sharing of information globally [8]. Tim Berns-Lee deployed three technologies that enabled the web: HTML, URL, and HTTP.

1990: The Introduction of Search Engines

Who: Alan Emtage

Where: McGill University, Canada

Why It Mattered: Alan Emtage invented the first search engine, which he named ARCHIE [9]. Search engines revolutionized information retrieval, making the internet more accessible and organized.

1993: The First Webcam Catches Coffee Thieves

Who: University of Cambridge

Where: United Kingdom

Why It Mattered: The camera monitoring the office coffee pot started as a joke at the University of Cambridge. But soon after this primitive webcam was hooked up, scientists figured out how to extend the webcam concept and bring it to consumers [10]. Webcams laid the foundation for online video communication and content sharing.

1997: The Rise of Social Media

Who: Six Degrees, Friendster

Where: United States

Why It Mattered: In 1997, Six Degrees became the first social media network [11]. By people across the world the ability to communicate easily with text and images, social media transformed communication. Whether or not the effects of social media on human society will be a net positive is still unclear.

1997
Social media
emerges

2001: 3G Mobile Launches

Who: International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Where: Global

Why It Mattered: The first commercial 3G networks were introduced in mid-2001, representing a major leap forward in mobile communication technologies [12]. 3G allowed access to wireless internet by smart phones, which began to change life around the world. Constant internet access became an earthshaking influence on every aspect of daily life.

2007: Internet Goes Mobile

Who: Apple, Inc.

Where: Cupertino, California

Why It Mattered: Though 3G launched in 2001, it wasn’t until 2007 that the tech world saw another invention that would change history. When Apple introduced the first iPhone, people truly began to be connected at all times [13]. Other phone companies followed, but it was the iPhone that changed everything. Mobile internet made online information and communication accessible on the go, changing the way we interact with the internet

2009: 4G LTE Mobile Launches

Who: Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei

Where: Stockholm and Oslo

Why It Mattered: Ericsson and Nokia, in collaboration with TeliaSonera, debuted the world’s first publicly available 4G LTE service in Stockholm and Oslo in 2009 [14]. TeliaSonera placed the first order for LTE with Ericsson, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of wireless communication. 4G LTE made mobile internet much faster, which increased the public demand for 24/7 mobile internet access.

2010
Fiber internet transforms connectivity

2010: Fiber Internet Transforms Connectivity

What Happened: In 2010, the internet landscape changed with the introduction of fiber internet to the home (FTTH) [15]. Google Fiber led the way, but other companies followed as demand rose for faster, more reliable internet.

Why It Mattered: The deployment of fiber-optic networks revolutionized internet connectivity by offering unparalleled speed, reliability, and an enhanced overall internet experience.

2012: Expansion of Cloud Computing

What Happened: Cloud computing services spread rapidly across global industry, revolutionizing data storage and access on the internet.

Why It Mattered: Cloud computing offers enhanced scalability, accessibility, and collaboration in online data management.

2015: Net Neutrality Debates Intensify

What Happened: The FCC adopted strong net neutrality rules, sparking debates and legal challenges over the regulation of internet service providers [16].

Why It Mattered: The discussions shaped the future of an open internet and the role of service providers in controlling access.

2018: Facebook Triggers Internet Privacy Concerns

What Happened: Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal unfolded [17}. Through the New York Times and the Guardian, the public discovered that Cambridge Analytica gained unauthorized access to personal information from 50 million Facebook profiles.

Why It Mattered: The scandal raised significant concerns about user data protection and privacy breaches on social media platforms.

2018: Implementation of GDPR for Privacy

What Happened: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in the European Union, setting strict standards for data protection and privacy [18].

Why It Mattered: The GDPR became a global benchmark for data privacy regulations, influencing policies worldwide.

2018
Internet privacy
concerns intensify

2020: 5G Technology Rolls Out

What Happened: 5G technology began rolling out globally, promising faster internet speeds and improved connectivity [19].

Why It Mattered: 5G was supposed to be a significant leap in wireless communication, improving various industries and supporting technological advances. Critics say it is too spotty thus far to have made an impact [20].

2022: ChatGPT Kicks Off the Age of AI

What Happened: OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, creating a milestone in the emergence of generative artificial intelligence. ChatGPT is an advanced large language model (LLM) that transformed the landscape of AI-driven conversations and interactions.

Why It Mattered: ChatGPT’s launch democratized access to generative AI, making sophisticated language generation capabilities more accessible. This event triggered heated discussions and exploration in the field of generative AI as well as general AI. It also kicked off a frenzy of investment that will flood the market with AI technology.

Advocates feel that AI will enable utopian developments in medicine, education, and transportation [21]. Critics fear it will cause massive job losses, economic chaos, and social unrest [22].

Today’s Internet Technologies

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Sources

[1] ComputerHistory.org. “Internet History: 1960s."

[2] Lemelson.MIT.edu. “Ray Tomlinson."

[3] Forbes.com. “The Rise and Fall of Cable Television."

[4] ComputerWorld.com. “Gary Thuerk: The Father of Spam."

[5] Wikipedia.org. “1G."

[6] Wired.com. “Symbolics: The First Dot-Com."

[7] Wikipedia.org. “Digital Subscriber Line."

[8] WebFoundation.org. “History of the Web."

[9] Poynter.org. “The frst internet search engine."

[10] BBC.com. “How the world’s first webcam made a coffee pot famous."

[11] HistoryCooperative.org. “The History of Social Media."

[12] ITU.int. “The ITU Takes Mobile into the Third Millennium."

[13] Apple.com. “Apple Reinvents the Phone with iPhone."

[14] Wikipedia.org. “4G."

[15] Harvard Business Review. “Google Fiber is high-speed internet’s most successful failure."

[16} CRSReports.Congress.gov. “Net neutrality."

[17] BipartisanPolicy.org. “Cambridge Analytica Controversy."

[18] Trade.gov. “European Union Data Privacy and Protection."

[19] Forbes.com. “The state of 5G in 2022."

[20] NYTimes.com. “What is 5G?"

[21] A16Z.com “AI Will Save the World."

(22) Forbes.com. “The 15 biggest risks of artificial intelligence."