A moment in history that defines us...

 

The internet and WWW...

    The internet was not just created by one person but rather over time, many pioneers contributed to the powerful search engine we know today as the Internet. The internet was founded around the 1970s by two men named Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf who discovered the ways in which multiple networks could connect. Before the internet, the invention of ARPANET allowed computers to communicate through one network. The internet allowed scientist and other authority to send data to each other. The ARPANET was created by a man named J.C.R Licklider proposing the idea of computer communication during the Cold War. Each idea led to the next and around 1965 a scientist developed the idea of “packet- switching” allowing data to be broken down before sending it. All of the these contributions and more impacted the way the internet came about and although the journey did include trials and errors, the powerful minds behind this moment in history shows the determination scientist had toward the unknown. 

    The internet became more popular and recognizable when Tim Berners- Lee invented the world wide web around the 1990s. The world wide web also known as WWW and the internet are often linked together but after doing research, it is found that they are different in a few ways. According to BBC, the internet is the overall network that connects computers together and the WWW is the combined network of webpages on the computers that make up the internet. The WWW is the links and websites that make up the internet. During the early time of the WWW, a browser called Mosaic offered links where words and pictures appeared on the same page for the first time later being used for commercials. The ways in which the internet in the 1990s was used is very different to how it is today. It takes a matter of seconds for a college student to open up their IPhone 11 X and Google search almost anything and everything imaginable but it is important to recognize the path that got us here because it is often taken for granted.

    Today the abilities of the WWW feel endless. The first website was created on August 6, 1991 with the URL of http://info.cern.ch. and it still exists today. The first web page was created to help inform the public about the WWW project and all that the web has to offer. Additionally, it helped explain to people how to use it considering it was an invention the world had never seen before. It is truly amazing to look back through the history of the internet and WWW to admire all the hard work that has been done. Today, most users of the internet are not aware of the determination, trial and error, and overall skill that has got us where we are today. The next time I scroll through Instragram I will know that it took a long time to get there. 

 

Works Cited

Andrews, Evan. “Who Invented the Internet?” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 18 Dec. 2013, www.history.com/news/who-invented-the-internet.

History.com Editors. “The Invention of the Internet.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 July 2010, www.history.com/topics/inventions/invention-of-the-internet.

Nix, Elizabeth. “The World's First Web Site.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Aug. 2016, www.history.com/news/the-worlds-first-web-site.

“What Is the World Wide Web?” BBC Bitesize, BBC, 28 Nov. 2019, www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zkcqn39/articles/z2nbgk7.

“World Wide Web.” The World Wide Web Project, info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html.