INTERNET FIRSTS DATABASE
CONCEPT OF THE WEB
Paul Otlet envisioned a 'mechanical collective brain' connecting global information
Belgian librarian Paul Otlet developed ideas that are now seen as precursors to the semantic Web and browsers.
ARPANET CONCEPTION
ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) was formed in response to Sputnik
Created by President Eisenhower to ensure US technological supremacy. Led to ARPANET and eventually the internet.
HACKING CULTURE BORN
MIT students begin 'hacking' - finding unintended applications for systems
Students found ways to improve and shorten computer codes, establishing a culture of creative problem-solving.
PACKET SWITCHING THEORY
Leonard Kleinrock publishes paper on packet switching theory
'Information Flow in Large Communication Nets' - theoretical foundation for how data could be broken into packets and routed through networks.
ARPANET FIRST HOST
First ARPANET host computer installed at UCLA
Professor Leonard Kleinrock's lab at UCLA became the first node of ARPANET, the precursor to the internet.
FIRST NETWORK MESSAGE
First message sent over ARPANET between UCLA and Stanford
Message was supposed to be 'LOGIN' but system crashed after 'LO'. Historic first communication between networked computers.
RANDOM FACT GENERATOR
Discover fascinating internet history with our fact generator
The first banner ad was created in 1994 and had a 44% click-through rate!