Key dates in Internet development

TOKYO: Following are some key dates in the development of the Internet:

1957: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first artificial Earth satellite and start of global telecommunications. In response, the United States forms the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to establish its lead in science and technology applicable to the military.

1962: The RAND Corporation, a US government agency, is commissioned by the US Air Force to conduct a study on a military research network that could survive a nuclear strike.anced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) begins to develop a new protocol to allow computer networks to interconnect and communicate with each other.

1976: E-mail takes off.

1982: The Internet protocol, IPv4, is established for ARPANET. The word “Internet” is first used.

1983: ARPANET is split into ARPANET, a research network, and MILNET, a military network. Interest from the commercial sector begins to grow throughout the ‘80s.

1990: “Internet” replaces ARPANET. Tim Berners-Lee, a scientist at CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, invents the World Wide Web, and CERN releases it in 1991: The Web makes it easy to access any form of information anywhere in the world.

1994: ARPANET/INTERNET celebrates 25th anniversary. Internet addresses hit three million, Web sites and news groups number 10,000 each. US Internet users are able to order pizza online.

1995: Online shopping site Amazon.com opens its virtual doors. Traditional online dial-up services such as CompuServe and America Online begin to provide Internet access.

1997: Internet addresses hit 19.5 million and Web sites number more than one million. The domain name “business.com” is sold for $150,000.

1999: The names of more than 100 alleged officers of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) appear on a US-based Web site in one of the nation’s biggest security breaches in the decade.

2001: The 43-nation Council of Europe adopts a convention on cybercrime, the first international treaty on criminal offences committed over the Internet.

2003: The “SQL Slammer” computer worm nearly cuts off Web access in South Korea and shuts down some US bank teller machines. —Reuters

Home | Infotech