Evolution of the Enternet

Two computers at MIT Lincoln Lab communicate with one another using packet-switching technology.

Beranek and Newman, Inc. (BBN) unveils the final version of the Interface Message Processor (IMP) specifications. BBN wins the ARPANET contract.

On Oct. 29, UCLA’s Network Measurement Center, Stanford Research Institute (SRI), University of California-Santa Barbara and University of Utah install nodes. The first message is "LO," which was an attempt by student Charles Kline to "Log in" to the SRI computer from the university. However, the message was unable to be completed because the SRI system crashed.

BBN’s Ray Tomlinson introduces network email. The Internetworking Working Group (INWG) forms to address the need for establishing standard protocols.

Global networking becomes a reality as the University College of London (England) and Royal Radar Establishment (Norway) connect to ARPANET. The term Internet is born.

The first Internet Service Provider () is born with the introduction of a commercial version of ARPANET, known as Telenet. Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn (the duo said by many to be the Fathers of the Internet) publish "A Protocol for Packet Network Interconnection," which details the design of TCP.

USENET forms to host news and discussion groups.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) provided a grant to establish the Computer Science Network (CSNET) to provide networking services to university computer scientists.

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), as the protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, emerge as the protocol for ARPANET. This results in the fledgling definition of the Internet as connected TCP/IP internets. TCP/IP remains the standard protocol for the Internet.