History of the Web and Internet Timeline

In 1945, Vannevar Bush writes in the Atlantic Monthly about the possible uses for information technology. He dreams about a device where individuals can store books, records, and communications as a supplement to their memory. He describes it as a photo-electrical-mechanical device called the Memex, which can link documents on microfiche.

The fundamental foundation of the internet was created in the early 60's. At MIT in 1961 Leonard Kleinrock produced the first paper on packet switching theory. This theory was the foundation for giving computer the ability to become networked and communicate.

In 1962, the SAGE also known as the Semi Automatic Ground Environment was used as North America's early warning system.

The Internet as we know it today first started being developed in the late 1960's.

The birth of the Internet occurred in Leonard Klieinrock's UCLA laboratory (3420 Boelter Hall at MIT) when his Host computer became the first node of the Internet in September 1969 and it was from there that he directed the transmission of the first message to pass over the Internet on October 29, 1969.

October 29, 1969 - The first electronic message was sent over the ARPANET network - this network consisted of the first four computers located apart but connected to each other and communicating across distances.

ARPANET was the precursor to todays internet. It was the first networked system to utilize packet switching rather than circuit switching, the method used before then.

In 1972, BBN programmer Ray Tomlinson created the first e-mail system on the ARPANET.

1978: The first unsolicited commercial email message (now known as spam) was sent to 600 ArPlanet users by Gary Thuerk.

In 1982 the first Videotext was completed allowing for online purchases, market sharing, and chatting.