# Internet History
Confidence: high
Last verified: 2026-05-22
Generation: ai_assisted


## TL;DR

The Internet evolved from ARPANET (1969, US Department of Defense) — the first packet-switching network connecting four university computers. TCP/IP (1983) became the standard. Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web (1989, CERN). Commercialization (1995) and broadband (2000s) brought the Internet to billions.

## Core Explanation

ARPANET (1969): UCLA, Stanford, UCSB, Utah. Email invented 1971 (Ray Tomlinson, @ symbol). TCP/IP (Cerf & Kahn, 1974, adopted 1983). DNS created 1983. First website (1991, info.cern.ch). First browser (Mosaic, 1993 → Netscape). Dot-com boom (1995-2000) and bust. Web 2.0 (2004+, user-generated content, social media). Mobile internet (iPhone 2007). ~5.5 billion users (2025).

## Further Reading

- [Where Wizards Stay Up Late (Katie Hafner, Matthew Lyon)](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-Late/Katie-Hafner/9780684832678)