The internet is a tricky invention. It is unconventional in its upbringings and unlike many other inventions for technological advancement, the internet does not have one, single inventor. One important characteristic of the internet is that it is always evolving and it evolves quickly. In 1957, in the midst of the Cold War, the Soviets launched the satellite called Sputnik into space. This was a huge advancement in space exploration and Americans quickly feared that they were going to lose the Cold War.
In response to the fear, the United States Government quickly focused on improving their technology and science education and poured money into scientific research. One major reason that they were so adamant to get ahead was the fear that the Soviets would take down the telephone system, the only long-distance form of communication that the US government had. Ideas for a solution were quickly beginning and in 1962 a solution was developed. JCR Licklider was the genius behind the solution called ARPANET. ARPANET was a “galactic network” of computers that used the packet-switch method that enabled the government to send a message from one computer to another and a way for the US government to continue communication if the USSR attacked the American telephone system.
The system was finally successful in 1969 in California. The message was sent from UCLA to Stanford by students and researchers, the message was the word “Login”. Unfortunately, the computer crashed and Stanford only received the letters “L” and “O”. For the next twenty-two years ARPANET continued to evolve until 1991 when Tim Berners-Lee, a Swiss computer programer, introduced the “World Wide Web”, a state of the art web of information instead of just sending a message from one computer to another. This new program allowed everyday people to use the internet.
In 1992, a huge leap was taken by researchers and students at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois about two and a half hours outside of Chicago. They developed the first sophisticated browser called Mosaic, a new user-friendly way to search the web and this is the type of browser still used today.
In 1995, the United States government shut down funding for research to enhance the internet including the funding they did in outside programs. Since the government stopped funding the internet they do not regulate it for the most part. Today the internet commonly carries commercial traffic.
