The Birth of the World Wide Web
March 12, 1989 · 20th Century
Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist at CERN, proposed an information management system that would become the World Wide Web. By December 1990, he had developed the key technologies that still form the foundation of today's web: HTML, HTTP, and URLs. The first website went live on August 6, 1991, and in 1993 CERN released the web technology into the public domain, enabling its widespread adoption and transforming global information sharing.
Key Figures
Tim Berners-LeeRobert Cailliau
Locations
CERN
Topics
inventioncomputingtechnologyinternet
Connected Events — 10 Connections
Internet infrastructure enabled Doom shareware distribution model that reached 15-20 million players Doom (Video Game)
The web drove mass broadband adoption providing the always-on internet connections WoW persistent online world required for 12 million subscribers World of Warcraft (Video Game)
iPhone core value proposition was mobile web access; Jobs demonstrated Safari browsing at 2007 Macworld keynote requiring Berners-Lee web infrastructure as the device primary interface iPhone Released
Berners-Lee's web enabled online fan communities and viral marketing that amplified Harry Potter's global spread beyond traditional publishing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Published
The web enabled the streaming infrastructure Spotify built upon Spotify Launches in Sweden
Streaming depended on the web infrastructure and broadband adoption that followed the WWW's creation Netflix Launches Watch Now Streaming Service
World Wide Web emergence preceded and enabled online distribution channels that would transform game distribution Wolfenstein 3D Released
Edison's incandescent bulb catalyzed widespread electrification, creating the electrical infrastructure that enabled the electronic revolution, ultimately making possible the computers and networks that Berners-Lee used to create the World Wide Web Incandescent Light Bulb Invented
Radio established the model of mass electronic broadcasting that later evolved into internet media KDKA Begins Regular Radio Broadcasting
Turing's model of universal computation underpins the networked digital systems the Web depends on Alan Turing Publishes On Computable Numbers
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