History of the Internet: Timeline

By Dave Marshall

This section is a summary of some of the material contained in Hobbes' Internet Timeline and also contains sources from Pros Online - Internet History, What is the Internet? and History of Internet and WWW : View from Internet Valley and a variety of text books. Consult these source for more detailed information.

1836

-- Telegraph. Cooke and Wheatstone patent it. Why is this relevant?

 

• Revolutionised human (tele)communications.
• Morse Code a series of dots and dashes used to communicate between humans. This is not a million miles away from how computers communicate via (binary 0/1) data today. Although it is much slower!!

1858-1866

-- Transatlantic cable. Allowed direct instantaneous communication across the atlantic. Why is this relevant?

 

• Today, cables connect all continents and are still a main hub of telecommunications.

 

1876

-- Telephone. Alexander Graham Bell Exhibits.

Why is this relevant?

 

• Telephones exchanges provide the backbone of Internet connections today.
• Modems provide Digital to Audio conversions to allow computers to connect over the telephone network.

1957

-- USSR launches Sputnik, first artificial earth satellite. Why is this relevant?

 

• The start of global telecommunications. Satellites play an important role in transmitting all sorts of data today.
• In response, US forms the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) within the Department of Defense (DoD) to establish US lead in science and technology applicable to the military.

1962 - 1968

-- Packet-switching (PS) networks developed Why is this relevant?

 

• As we will see later the Internet relies on packets to transfer data.
• The origin is military : for utmost security in transferring information of networks (no single outage point).
• Data is split into tiny packets that may take different routes to a destination.
• Hard to eavesdrop on messages.
• More than one route available -- if one route goes down another may be followed.
• Networks can withstand large scale destruction (Nuclear attack - This was the time of the Cold War).

1969

-- Birth of Internet

ARPANET commissioned by DoD for research into networking

Why is this relevant?

 

• First node at UCLA (Los Angeles) closely followed by nodes at Stanford Research Institute, UCSB (Santa Barbara) and U of Utah (4 Nodes).

1971

-- People communicate over a network
• 15 nodes (23 hosts) on ARPANET.
• E-mail invented -- a program to send messages across a distributed network. Why is this relevant?

   

  • E-mail is still the main way of inter-person communication on the Internet today.
  • We will study how to use and send E-mail shortly in this course.
  • You will make extensive use of E-mail for the rest of your life.

1972

-- Computers can connect more freely and easily

• First public demonstration of ARPANET between 40 machines.
• Internetworking Working Group (INWG) created to address need for establishing agreed upon protocols.

  Why is this relevant?

   

  • Telnet specification
  • Telnet is still a relevant means of inter-machine connection today.

1973

-- Global Networking becomes a reality

• First international connections to the ARPANET: University College of London (England) and Royal Radar Establishment (Norway)
• Ethernet outlined -- this how local networks are basically connected today.
• Internet ideas started.
• Gateway architecture sketched on back of envelope in hotel lobby in San Francisco. Gateways define how large networks (maybe of different architecture) can be connected together.
• File Transfer protocol specified -- how computers send and receive data.

1974

-- Packets become mode of transfer

• Transmission Control Program (TCP) specified. Packet network Intercommunication -- the basis of Internet Communication.
• Telenet, a commercial version of ARPANET, opened -- the first public packet data service.

1976

-- Networking comes to many

• Queen Elizabeth sends out an e-mail.
• UUCP (Unix-to-Unix CoPy) developed at AT&T Bell Labs and distributed with UNIX.

  Why is this relevant?

   

  • UNIX was and still is the main operating system used by universities and research establishments.
  • These machines could now ``talk'' over a network.
  • Networking exposed to many users worldwide.

1977

-- E-mail takes off, Internet becomes a reality

• Number of hosts breaks 100.
• THEORYNET provides electronic mail to over 100 researchers in computer science (using a locally developed E-mail system and TELENET for access to server).
• Mail specification
• First demonstration of ARPANET/Packet Radio Net/SATNET operation of Internet protocols over gateways.

   

1979

-- News Groups born

• Computer Science Department research computer network established in USA.
• USENET established using UUCP.

  Why is this relevant?

   

  • USENET still thrives today.
  • A collection of discussions groups, news groups.
  • 3 news groups established by the end of the year
  • Almost any topic now has a discussion group.

1979 (Cont)

    

• First MUD (Multiuser Dungeon) -- interactive multiuser sites. Interactive adventure games, board games, rich and detailed databases.
• ARPA establishes the Internet Configuration Control Board (ICCB).
• Packet Radio Network (PRNET) experiment starts with ARPA funding. Most communications take place between mobile vans.

   

1981

-- Things start to come together

• BITNET, the "Because It's Time NETwork" Started as a cooperative network at the City University of New York, with the first connection to Yale

   

  • Provides electronic mail and listserv servers to distribute information, as well as file transfers
• CSNET (Computer Science NETwork) established to provide networking services (specially E-mail) to university scientists with no access to ARPANET. CSNET later becomes known as the Computer and Science Network.

1982

-- TCP/IP defines future communication

• DCA and ARPA establishes the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), as the protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, for ARPANET.

  Why is this relevant?

   

  • Leads to one of the first definitions of an internet as a connected set of networks, specifically those using TCP/IP, and Internet as connected TCP/IP internets.

1982 (Cont)

     

• EUnet (European UNIX Network) is created by EUUG to provide E-mail and USENET services. Original connections between the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and UK
• External Gateway Protocol specification -- EGP is used for gateways between (different architecture) networks.

   

1983

-- Internet gets bigger

• Name server developed.

  Why is this relevant?

   

  • Large number of nodes.
  • Hard to remember exact paths
  • Use meaningful names instead.

     

• Desktop workstations come into being.

  Why is this relevant?

   

  • Many with Berkeley UNIX which includes IP networking software.
  • Need switches from having a single, large time sharing computer connected to Internet per site, to connection of an entire local network.

     

1983 (Cont)

     

• Internet Activities Board (IAB) established, replacing ICCB
• Berkeley releases new version of UNIX 4.2BSD incorporating TCP/IP.
• EARN (European Academic and Research Network) established on similar lines to BITNET

1984

-- Growth of Internet Continues

• Number of hosts breaks 1,000.
• Domain Name Server (DNS) introduced.

   

  • instead of 123.456.789.10
  • it is easier to remember something like

    www.myuniversity.mydept.mynetwork.mycountry

    ( e.g. www.cs.cf.ac.uk).

     

• JANET (Joint Academic Network) established in the UK
• Moderated newsgroups introduced on USENET.

1986

-- Power of Internet Realised

• 5, 000 Hosts. 241 News groups.
• NSFNET created (backbone speed of 56 Kbps)
• NSF establishes 5 super-computing centers to provide high-computing power for all -- This allows an explosion of connections, especially from universities.
• Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) designed to enhance Usenet news performance over TCP/IP.

 

1987

-- Commercialisation of Internet Born

 

• Number of hosts 28,000.
• UUNET is founded with Usenix funds to provide commercial UUCP and Usenet access.

1988

     

• NSFNET backbone upgraded to T1 (1.544 Mbps)
• Internet Relay Chat (IRC) developed

 

1989

-- Large growth in Internet

 

• Number of hosts breaks 100,000
• First relays between a commercial electronic mail carrier and the Internet
• Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) comes into existence under the IAB

   

1990

-- Expansion of Internet continues

• 300,000 Hosts. 1,000 News groups
• ARPANET ceases to exist
• Archie released files can be searched and retrieved (FTP) by name.
• The World comes on-line (world.std.com), becoming the first commercial provider of Internet dial-up access.

1991

-- Modernisation Begins

• Commercial Internet eXchange (CIX) Association, Inc. formed after NSF lifts restrictions on the commercial use of the Net.
• Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS) Why is relevant?

   

  • Provides a mechanism for indexing and accessing information on the Internet.
  • Large bodies of knowledge available: E-mail messages, text, electronic books, Usenet articles, computer code, image, graphics, sound files, databases etc..
  • These form the basis of the index of information we see on WWW today.
  • Powerful search techniques implemented. Keyword search.

     

1991 (cont)

-- Friendly User Interface to WWW established

• Gopher released by Paul Lindner and Mark P. McCahill from the U of Minnesota. Why is relevant?

   

  • Text based, menu-driven interface to access internet resources.
  • No need to remember or even know complex computer command. User Friendly Interface (?).
  • Largely superseded by WWW, these days.

1991 (cont)

-- Most Important development to date

• World-Wide Web (WWW) released by CERN; Tim Berners-Lee developer. Why is relevant?

   

  • Originally developed to provide a distributed hypermedia system.
  • Easy access to any form of information anywhere in the world.
  • Initially non-graphic (this came later, MOSAIC, 1993).
  • Revolutionised modern communications and even our, way of life (?).
• NSFNET backbone upgraded to T3 (44.736 Mbps). NSFNET traffic passes 1 trillion bytes/month and 10 billion packets/month
• Start of JANET IP Service (JIPS) using TCP/IP within the UK academic network.

   

1992

-- Multimedia changes the face of the Internet

• Number of hosts breaks 1 Million. News groups 4,000
• Internet Society (ISOC) is chartered.
• First MBONE audio multicast (March) and video multicast (November).
• The term "Surfing the Internet" is coined by Jean Armour Polly.

1993

-- The WWW Revolution truly begins

• Number of Hosts 2 Million. 600 WWW sites.
• InterNIC created by NSF to provide specific Internet services
  • directory and database services
  • registration services
  • information services
• Business and Media really take notice of the Internet.
• US White House and United Nations (UN) comes on-line.
• Mosaic takes the Internet by storm. Why is this relevant?

   

  • User Friendly Graphical Front End to the World Wide Web.
  • Develops into Netscape -- most popular WWW browser to date.
  • WWW proliferates at a 341,634

1994

-- Commercialisation begins

• Number of Hosts 3 Million. 10,000 WWW sites. 10,000 News groups.
• ARPANET/Internet celebrates 25th anniversary
• Local communities begin to be wired up directly to the Internet (Lexington and Cambridge, Mass., USA)
• US Senate and House provide information servers
• Shopping malls, banks arrive on the Internet
  • A new way of life
  • You can now order pizza from the Hut online in the US.
  • First Virtual, the first cyberbank, open up for business
• NSFNET traffic passes 10 trillion bytes/month
• WWW edges out telnet to become 2nd most popular service on the Net (behind ftp-data) based on % of packets and bytes traffic distribution on NSFNET
• UK's HM Treasury on-line (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/)

   

1995

-- Commercialisation continues apace

• 6.5 Million Hosts, 100,000 WWW Sites.
• NSFNET reverts back to a research network. Main US backbone traffic now routed through interconnected network providers
• WWW surpasses ftp-data in March as the service with greatest traffic on NSFNet based on packet count, and in April based on byte count
• Traditional online dial-up systems (Compuserve, America Online, Prodigy) begin to provide Internet access
• A number of Net related companies go public, with Netscape leading the pack.
• Registration of domain names is no longer free.
• Technologies of the Year: WWW, Search engines (WAIS development).
• New WWW technologies Emerge Technologies

   

  • Mobile code (JAVA, JAVAscript, ActiveX),
  • Virtual environments (VRML),
  • Collaborative tools (CU-SeeMe)

1996

-- Microsoft enter

• 12.8 Million Hosts, 0.5 Million WWW Sites.
• Internet phones catch the attention of US telecommunication companies who ask the US Congress to ban the technology (which has been around for years)
• The WWW browser war begins , fought primarily between Netscape and Microsoft, has rushed in a new age in software development, whereby new releases are made quarterly with the help of Internet users eager to test upcoming (beta) versions.

 

1997

-- What Next?

• 19.5 Million Hosts, 1 Million WWW sites, 71,618 Newsgroups.