1962: The first recorded description of the idea for the internet was a series of memos written by J.C.R. Licklider of MIT, discussing his “Galactic Network” concept.

Licklider was the first head of the computer research program at Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) starting in October 1962. He convinced his successors at DARPA the importance of the concept, and Leonard Kleinrock at MIT published the first paper on packet switching theory in July 1961.

1965: Working with Thomas Merrill, Lawrence G. Roberts connects the TX-2 computer in Massachusetts to the Q-32 in California with a low speed dial-up telephone line creating the first wide-area computer network ever built. They tried to transmit the word ‘login’ but the network crashed after the ‘l’ and ‘o’. An hour later, the system recovered from the crash and SDS Sigma 7 computer sent the full word.

Remote computing is performed, eventually leading to the inclusion of Remote Desktop in every release of Microsoft Windows Operating Systems.

1969: “ARPANET” is born using packet switching, and UCLA was selected to be the first node (AKA the first host). By the end of 1969, four host computers were connected together into the initial ARPANET, and the Internet was off the ground.

Researchers at University of Utah begin investigating methods of 3-D representations over the net, to display mathematics and images.

UNIX is created by AT&T employees: Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna.

Early 1970’s: Computers are added quickly to the ARPANET and work proceeded on completing a functionally complete Host-to-Host protocol and other network software. The first public demonstration of the internet to the public occurred at the International Computer Communication Conference (ICCC) in 1972.

1972: Electronic mail is introduced. Ray Tomlinson at BBN wrote the first email utility program; later expanded by Lawrence Roberts to list, selectively read, file, forward, and respond to messages. Email took off as the largest network application for over a decade.

1974: A proposal is made to link together all autonomous ARPA-like networks, to develop a single standard for widespread use, called TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).

1978: The first spam e-mail message is sent May 3, 1978, advertising a presentation/open house to sell DECSYSTEM computers:

DIGITAL WILL BE GIVING A PRODUCT PRESENTATION OF THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY; THE DECSYSTEM-2020, 2020T, 2060, AND 2060T. THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY OF COMPUTERS HAS EVOLVED FROM THE TENEX OPERATING SYSTEM AND THE DECSYSTEM-10 <PDP-10> COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE. BOTH THE DECSYSTEM-2060T AND 2020T OFFER FULL ARPANET SUPPORT UNDER THE TOPS-20 OPERATING SYSTEM.

THE DECSYSTEM-2060 IS AN UPWARD EXTENSION OF THE CURRENT DECSYSTEM 2040 AND 2050 FAMILY. THE DECSYSTEM-2020 IS A NEW LOW END MEMBER OF THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AND FULLY SOFTWARE COMPATIBLE WITH ALL OF THE OTHER DECSYSTEM-20 MODELS.

WE INVITE YOU TO COME SEE THE 2020 AND HEAR ABOUT THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AT THE TWO PRODUCT PRESENTATIONS WE WILL BE GIVING IN CALIFORNIA THIS MONTH. THE LOCATIONS WILL BE:  TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1978 – 2 PM HYATT HOUSE (NEAR THE L.A. AIRPORT) LOS ANGELES, CA  THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1978 – 2 PM DUNFEY’S ROYAL COACH SAN MATEO, CA (4 MILES SOUTH OF S.F. AIRPORT AT BAYSHORE, RT 101 AND RT 92)

A 2020 WILL BE THERE FOR YOU TO VIEW. ALSO TERMINALS ON-LINE TO OTHER DECSYSTEM-20 SYSTEMS THROUGH THE ARPANET. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT THE NEAREST DEC OFFICE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXCITING DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY.

Early 1980’s: Widespread use of TCP/IP, LANS, PCs and workstations in the 1980’s allows the Internet to continue to flourish. Originally for researchers and developers, the internet began to open up to the workplace, starting commercial internet use.

Online games are introduced, and were called Multi User Dungeons (MUDs). They featured no graphics, but characters that made up pictures. Shortly after, another kind of multiplayer game surfaced that was based on dial-up Bulletin Board Systems or (BBS’s), local machines run by computer enthusiasts that could be connected to with a phone line and a modem. Once these bulletin boards became more popular, many game companies started making money and offered multiple phone lines so that several people could play at once, which opened up a significant niche in the gaming world. In 1993, a popular internet game called Doom was created and was played by an estimated 10 million people within two years of its release, popularizing the mode of gameplay and spawning a gaming subculture.

The first hackers appear on the Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs). Meeting boards with names like Sherwood Forest and Catch-22 become the venue of choice for hackers to gossip, trade tips, and share stolen computer passwords and credit card numbers. Hacking groups begin to form, like the Legion of Doom in the U.S. and Chaos Computer Club in Germany.

1988: Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is created, and the first chat rooms were born. This paved the way for real-time technology (Instant Messaging) that we use today.

The first major malicious internet-based attack occurs, called the ‘Morris Worm’ (by hacker Robert Tappan Morris). This causes major interruptions to large portions of the internet.!

1989: Tim Berners-Lee physicist, computer scientist and MIT professor) invents the World Wide Web, an internet-based hypermedia initiative for global information sharing. His specifications of URLs, HTTP and HTML were refined as web technology spread. He is the director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which maintains standards for how the internet operates.

1990: The first search engine called Archie is created by Alan Emtage, Bill Heelan and J. Peter Deutsch. They named it after the word Archive but without the ‘v’. It was limited in its search to their FTP network, and soon the need for a web search engine was needed. Many small search engines popped up in the coming years, such as Magellan, Excite, Infoseek, Inktomi, Northern Light, Lycos, and Yahoo!.

Early 1990’s: Online banking is born. Originally called home banking, it was a rather costly luxury. Once users paid for the service, the bank would send a floppy disc with their proprietary program on it, which would allow the user to dial into the bank’s systems and access their account. Seemingly overnight, banks began to put up their own websites, offering banking over the internet. In the beginning, banks could only provide basic information over the net, but within a few years and given the introduction of interactivity to websites, the online banking website was born and the online banking industry was revolutionized.

Apple introduces AOL, making the internet traffic skyrocket due to its popularity with the average user. The timeline shows the AOL logo progression through the decades:

1991: The first webcam is set up in the Cambridge University computer lab, and used via the internet to monitor the coffee levels. Developers used this to check and see if there was coffee in the next room. Typical programmers!

1991: The first graphical internet browser is created, called Mosaic. It featured a basic menu bar with options to open, save, print, and refresh pages.

1994: First blog is created by Swarthmore student Justin Hall. Since then, blogging has become a very popular means of documenting the lives and thoughts of individuals. This method of online journaling can be considered one of the earliest types of social networking.

1995: Internet Explorer is introduced, and—**unfortunately**–remains one of the most popular internet browsers to date.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption is developed by Netscape, making financial transactions safer to conduct.

eBay and Amazon are born, creating major traffic for online shopping and e-commerce. eBay was created by Pierre Morad Omidyar to sell his personal things. The first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer for \$14.83. Amazon was started by Jeff Bezos, starting out as an online bookstore which was later turned into an online mail order catalog.

Serial cyber-hacker Kevin Mitnick is captured by federal agents and charged with stealing 20,000 credit card numbers. He’s kept in prison for four years without a trial and becomes a cause celebrity in the hacking underground. Released in 2002, he became an ethical hacking consultant, author, and public speaker. He started his own consulting company, Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC, and focuses on penetration testing, to find weaknesses in companies’ security.

1998: Google is introduced and becomes one of the prominent and widely used search engines to date. They are famous for frequently changing their main page and logo for special events and holidays. These are archived at www.google.com/logos.

Music and file sharing become popular, starting peer-to-peer networks to download free MP3 files (among others). First on the scene was Napster, followed by programs such as Limewire and Frostwire for free media downloading.

2000: The so-called Dotcom stock market bubble bursts. The downfall was powered by the rise of Internet sites and the tech industry in general, and many companies went under when the bubble finally burst. Many investors lost substantial sums of money during the crisis, helping to trigger a mild economic recession in the early 2000s.

2001: Wikipedia is formed, paving the way for collective web content generation and social media.

2003: Skype is created, and Voice over IP (VoIP) technology begins.

Myspace begins and starts the social networking revolution. Facebook follows with its launch in 2005, twitter in 2006. These sites allow users to share ideas, events, pictures, video, and files through interactive profiles.

2005: Video sharing is made possible by YouTube, which allows users to create and upload videos to share with the public.

2007: Streaming TV shows and Movies become possible with the introduction of Hulu. To compete, Netflix and Blockbuster also begin offering online streaming movies, TV shows, and games.

Mobile web begins to skyrocket with the Apple iPhone followed by the rise of smartPhones by many competitors such as BlackBerry, Android, HTC, etc. This begins the creation and sale of mobile applications which can be downloaded from the phones via internet access.