ARPANET delivers its first message
October 29, 1969
The first ARPANET link established and first message sent (between UCLA and SRI). By the end of 1969, just four computers were connected to the ARPAnet, but the network grew steadily during the 1970s.
Read moreEmail added to ARPANET
January 1, 1971
![Email added to ARPANET](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/at-350x120.jpg)
Email protocol for ARPANET established (Ray Tomlinson). By 1976, 75% of ARPANET traffic was email.
Read moreARPANET adopts TCP/IP creating the Internet as we know it
January 1, 1983
![ARPANET adopts TCP/IP creating the Internet as we know it](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/invention-268x120.jpg)
ARPANET adopts TCP/IP. TCP/IP is the underlying protocol for the Internet allowing all computer networks regardless of format to connect to it.
Read morePeaceNet founded
February 3, 1985
![PeaceNet founded](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/peacenet-350x120.png)
PeaceNet founded in 1985 with 700 members. One of PeaceNet’s founders Mark Graham and the founder of EcoNet, Mitra Adron, joined forces in 1987 to create the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) an early attempt to use the global net for purposes other than military, governmental or academic.
Read moreGovernment changes the rules to allow commerce on the Internet
January 1, 1989
![Government changes the rules to allow commerce on the Internet](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/nsf-224x120.jpg)
The National Science Foundation Network (NSFN), which inherited the management of the Internet from ARPANET, removed rules restricting the Internet to governmental and academic institutions only paving the way for online commerce.
Read moreCompuServe joins the Internet
November 3, 1989
![CompuServe joins the Internet](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CompuServe_logo-350x120.gif)
CompuServe becomes the first consumer online service to give its customers access to Internet email.
Read moreWorld Wide Web launched
December 1, 1990
![World Wide Web launched](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/tim-350x120.jpg)
In 1990 a computer programmer in Switzerland named Tim Berners-Lee introduced the World Wide Web: an internet that was not simply a way to send files from one place to another but was itself a “web” of information that anyone on the Internet could retrieve. Berners-Lee created the Internet that…
Read moreInternet email becomes ubiquitous
January 1, 1993
![Internet email becomes ubiquitous](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/email-225x120.png)
Internet email access becomes ubiquitous among all online services
Read moreMosaic browser launched
January 23, 1993
![Mosaic browser launched](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/mosaic-300x120.jpg)
In 1992, Marc Andreessen and a group of students and researchers at the University of Illinois developed a sophisticated browser that they called Mosaic. (It later became Netscape.) Mosaic offered a user-friendly way to search the Web: It allowed users to see words and pictures on the same page for…
Read moreNetscape founded
April 4, 1994
![Netscape founded](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/clark-and-mark-1-350x120.jpg)
Netscape founded with eight employees (Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark)
Read moreThe 3220 Meeting – June 11, 1994
June 11, 1994
![The 3220 Meeting – June 11, 1994](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/daikin-259x120.jpg)
On June 11, 1994, Ken McCarthy organized a meeting in San Francisco with leaders of the Internet commercialization movement to discuss practical pathways for commercializing the Internet. At this meeting McCarthy identified the monetization of clicks as the most likely foundation for a commercial Internet. Reference: Time Magazine March 9,…
Read moreFirst banner ad on a commercial site
October 27, 1994
![First banner ad on a commercial site](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/boyce1-263x120.jpg)
Wired Magazine’s Hotwired.com displays the first banner ad sold to a corporate client. AT&T was the advertiser. Rick Boyce led the sales effort Hotwired.com was the first web-based magazine designed to be financially self-supporting.
Read moreThe first web commerce conference – Part One
November 5, 1994
![The first web commerce conference – Part One](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ken-1-350x120.jpg)
Held in San Francisco at Pac Bell headquarters. Mark Graham and Marc Andreessen were featured speakers. Ken McCarthy presented the Direct Response Model for Internet publishing and commerce which proved to be the foundation of the commercial Internet.
Read moreThe first web commerce conference – Part Two
November 5, 1994
![The first web commerce conference – Part Two](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/all-three-3-350x120.jpg)
Left to right: Ken McCarthy, Marc Andreessen, Mark Graham. Featured speakers at the November 5, 1994 web commerce conference. The event was sponsored by Ken McCarthy’s company E-Media.
Read moreNetscape IPO
August 9, 1995
![Netscape IPO](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/netscape-ipo-299x120.jpg)
Netscape went public on Aug. 9, 1995, just over a year after its founding, and only eight months after releasing the first version of its groundbreaking Web browser.
Read moreThe world’s biggest marketplace
January 1, 2019
![The world’s biggest marketplace](https://webcomhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/cash-302x120.png)
There are currently 4.3 billion people using the Internet today, 56% of the total world population. In 2019, total estimated online sales: $3.53 trillion.
Read more