The first teletype is connected to a "timesharing" mainframe computer.
Timeline: Digital Technology and Preservation
1961
1969
The first ARPANET node is installed at UCLA Network Measurement Center.
1971
The first ARPANET network email message is transmitted.
1972
Dialog offers the first publicly available online research service.
1973
The first ARPANET nodes appear in Europe.
Bob Metcalfe invents Ethernet, a local area network (LAN) technology.
1974
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) specification is published.
1975
Ohio State University introduces one of the first online catalogs.
First list servers are introduced.
1977
100 hosts exist on ARPANET.
1978
Dallas Public Library introduces one of the first online public catalogs (OPACs).
A "worm" program that searches out other computers copies itself then self-destructs is invented by two Xerox PARC researchers.
1979
USENET emerges as a collection of user-submitted messages on various subjects posted to servers on a worldwide network.
1980
Digital faxes using uniform data standards appear.
The TELNET protocol is specified, allowing command line login sessions between hosts.
1981
BITNET, a network of academic sites comparable to but separate from the Internet, appears.
1982
ARPANET shifts to TCP/IP.
1984
Architecture of the Domain Name System (DNS) is designed, contains 1000 hosts.
As personal computers become more powerful, people become accustomed to faster machines and graphical interfaces. Use shifts from centralized mainframes to personal computers distributed over a network.
1986
NSFNET replaces ARPANET as the main government network linking universities and research facilities.
1987
The number of DNS hosts begins doubling each year.
NCSA develops NCSA telnet, making it easier to connect to a remote computer.
1988
Z39.50 becomes the international standard defining a protocol for computer-to-computer information retrieval. Z39.50 makes it possible for a user to search and retrieve information from other computer systems without knowing the search syntax used by those other systems.
The Internet Worm virus temporarily shuts down 10% of the world's Internet servers.
1989
MCI Mail and Compuserv provide the first commercial email connection through NSFNET.
1990
Archie software for searching FTP sites is released.
1991
Wide Area Information Server (WAIS) protocol is introduced, allowing collections of indexed data to be retrieved by searches.
An early World Wide Web (WWW) system is released by CERN to the high energy physics community.
HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) initial draft.
Gopher, a distributed document search and retrieval network protocol, is released.
1992
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) protocol proposed.
Network service providers America Online and Delphi connect their proprietary email systems to the Internet, beginning the large scale adoption of Internet email as a global standard.
1993
InterNIC is created to manage Internet services.
1995
National Science Foundation dismantles NSFnet and replaces it with a commercial Internet backbone.
1996
Internet2 project is formed to provide a high-bandwith network for the national research community.
1997
BITNET is retired.
The original version of the standard IEEE 802.11, the wireless LAN standard, is released, launching the WiFi phenomenon.
A human error at Network Solutions causes the Domain Name System (DNS) table for .com and .net domains to become corrupted, making millions of systems unreachable.
1998
Two Web domain-name groups, Network Solutions and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, form the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to oversee the domain-name system.
1999
Bluetooth, a short range wireless networking standard, is announced.
2003
The third WiFi modulation standard, 802.11g, is ratified. Consumers products and WiFi "hotspots" proliferate.
2007
NSF implements the Office of CyberInfrastructure, which publishes the Cyberinfrastructure Vision for 21st century Discovery report.