1957	USSR launches Sputnik, first artificial earth satellite. In response, US forms the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) within the Department of Defense (DoD) to establish US lead in science and technology applicable to the military (:amk:)
1960s	Design of packet-switching networks - Paul Baran, RAND: "On Distributed Communications Networks" - No single outage point.
1967	ACM Symposium on Operating Principles - Plan presented for a packet-switching network
1968	Network presentation to the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)
1969	ARPANET commissioned by DOD for research into networking - Uses Network Control Protocol (NCP) through Information Message Processors (IMP) developed by Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc. (BBN) - First node at UCLA, soon after at Stanford Research Institute (SRI), UCSB, and the University of Utah. First Request for Comment (RFC): "Host Software" by Steve Crocker
1970s	Store and Forward Networks - Electronic mail technology extended to conferencing. HM Elizabeth, Queen of the United Kingdom sends out an e-mail.
1970	ALOHAnet developed by Norman Abrahamson, U of Hawaii (:sk2:)
1971	15 nodes (23 hosts): UCLA, SRI, UCSB, U of Utah, BBN, MIT, RAND, SDC, Harvard, Lincoln Lab, Stanford, UIU(C), CWRU, CMU, NASA/Ames
1972	International Conference on Computer Communications with demonstration of ARPANET between 40 machines organized by Bob Kahn. InterNetworking Working Group (INWG) created to address need for establishing agreed upon protocols. Chairman: Vinton Cerf.
1973	First international connections to the ARPANET: England and Norway
1975	Operational management of Internet transferred to DCA (now DISA). BBN (Bolt Beranek and Newman) opens Telenet, commercial version of ARPANET (:sk2:)>
1976	UUCP (unix-to-unix copy) developed at AT&T Bell Labs and distributed with UNIX one year later.
1977	THEORYNET created at U of Wisconsin providing electronic mail to over 100 researchers in computer science (using uucp).
1979	Meeting between U of Wisconsin, DARPA, NSF, and computer scientists from many universities to establish a Computer Science Department research computer network. USENET established using uucp between Duke and UNC.
1981	BITNET, the "Because Its Time (There) NETwork" - Started as a cooperative network at the City University of New York. - Provides electronic mail and listserv servers to distribute information. - Unlike USENET, where client software is needed, electronic mail is the only tool necessary. CSNET (Computer Science NETwork) comes into being providing a dial-up capability to electronic mail. Many universities feeling left out of ARPANET, join CSNET.
1982	INWG establishes the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), as the protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, for ARPANET. - This leads to one of the first definition of an "internet" as a connected set of networks, specifically those using TCP/IP, and "Internet" as connected TCP/IP internets.
1983	Name server developed at U of Wisconsin, no longer requiring users to know the exact path to other systems. CSNET / ARPANET gateway put in place. ARPANET split into ARPANET and MILNET with the latter becoming integrated with the Defense Data Network created the previous year. Desktop workstations come into being, many with Berkeley UNIX which includes IP networking software. Need switches from having a single, large time sharing computer connected to Internet per site, to connection of an entire local network. Berkeley releases 4.2BSD incorporating TCP/IP (:mpc:)
1984	Domain Name Server (DNS) introduced. # of hosts breaks 1,000
1986	NSFNET created (backbone speed of 56Kbps) - NSF establishes 5 super-computing centers to provide high-computing power for all. - ARPANET bureaucracy keeps it from being used to interconnect centers and NSFNET comes into being with the aid of NASA and DOE. - This allows an explosion of connections, especially from universities. Cleveland Freenet (start of NPTN) comes on-line (:sk2:)
1987	NSF signs a cooperative agreement to manage the NSFNET backbone with IBM, MCI, and Merit Network, Inc. 1000th RFC: "Request For Comments reference guide". # of hosts breaks 10,000. # of BITNET hosts breaks 1,000
1988	Internet worm burrows through the Net.
1989	# of hosts breaks 100,000. NSFNET backbone upgraded to T1 (1.544Mbps). RIPE (Reseaux IP Europeens) formed (by European service providers) to ensure the necessary administrative and technical coordination to allow the operation of the pan-European IP Network. (:glg:)
1990	ARPANET ceases to exist. First relay between a commercial electronic mail carrier (MCI Mail) and the Internet through the Clearinghouse for Networked Information. Electronic Frontier Foundation is founded by Mitch Kapor
1991	Commercial Internet eXchange (CIX) Association, Inc. formed by General Atomics (CERFnet), Performance Systems International, Inc. (PSInet), and UUNET Technologies, Inc. (AlterNet) (:glg:). WAIS released by Thinking Machines Corporation. Gopher released by University of Minnesota.
1992	Internet Society is chartered. World-Wide Web released by CERN. # of hosts breaks 1,000,000. NSFNET backbone upgraded to T3 (44,736Mbps)
1993	InterNIC created to provide specific Internet services: (:sc1:) - directory and database services (AT&T) - registration services (Network Solutions Inc.) - information services (General Atomics/CERFnet) US White House comes on-line: - President Bill Clinton: president@whitehouse.gov - Vice-President Al Gore: vice-president@whitehouse.gov - First Lady Hillary Clinton: root@whitehouse.gov (-:rhz:-) Internet Talk Radio begins broadcasting (:sk2:). Businesses and media take notice of the Internet!
1994	Communities begin to be wired up directly to the Internet (Lexington and Cambridge, Mass., USA). US Senate and State of California provide information servers. Shopping malls arrive on the Internet. Arizona law firm of Canter & Siegel "spams" the Internet with email advertising green card lottery services; Net citizens flame back. NSFNET traffic passes 10 trillion bytes/month. You can now order from Pizza Hut, online! WWW edges out telnet to become 2nd most popular service on the Net (behind ftp-data) based on % of packets and bytes traffic distribution on NSFNET. Japanese Prime Minister on-line (http://www.kantei.go.jp/). UK's HM Treasury on-line (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/). New Zealand's Info Tech Prime Minister on-line (http://www.govt.nz/). First Virtual, the first cyberbank, open up for business. Radio stations start rockin' (rebroadcasting) round the clock on the Net: WXYC at UofNC, WJHK at UofKS-Lawrence, KUGS at Western WA U.
1995	NSFNET reverts back to a research network. Main US backbone traffic is now routed through interconnected network providers. Hong Kong police disconnect all but 1 of the colony's Internet providers in search of a hacker. 10,000 people are left without Net access. (:api:) Radio HK, the first 24 hr., Internet-only radio station starts broadcasting. WWW surpasses ftp-data in March as the service with greatest traffic on NSFNet based on packet count, and in April based on byte count. Traditional online dial-up systems (Compuserve, American Online, Prodigy) begin to provide Internet access. A number of Net related companies go public, with Netscape leading the pack with the 3rd largest ever NASDAQ IPO share value (9 August). Registration of domain names is no longer free. Beginning 14 September, a $50 annual fee has been imposed, which up until now was subsidized by NSF. NSF continues to pay for .edu registration, and on an interim basis for .gov The Vatican comes on-line (http://www.vatican.va/). The Canadian Goverment comes on-line (http://canada.gc.ca/). The first official Internet wiretap was successful in helping the Secret Service and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) aprehend three individuals who were illegally manufacturing and selling cell phone cloning equipment and electronic devices. Operation Home Front connects, for the first time, soldiers in the field with their families back home via the Internet.
1996	The Internet 1996 World Exposition, the first World's Fair to take place on the Internet. "A Day in the Life of the Internet" published (:rhz:)

Internet growth summary:

   Date       Hosts      |    Date       Hosts     Networks    Domains
   -----    ---------    +    -----    ---------   --------    -------
    1969            4    |    07/89      130,000                 3,900
   04/71           23    |    10/89      159,000
   06/74           62    |    10/90      313,000                 9,300
   03/77          111    |    01/91      376,000
   08/81          213    |    07/91      535,000                16,000
   05/82          235    |    10/91      617,000                18,000
   08/83          562    |    01/92      727,000
   10/84        1,024    |    04/92      890,000                20,000
   10/85        1,961    |    07/92      992,000      6,569     16,300
   02/86        2,308    |    10/92    1,136,000      7,505     18,100
   11/86        5,089    |    01/93    1,313,000      8,258     21,000
   12/87       28,174    |    04/93    1,486,000      9,722     22,000
   07/88       33,000    |    07/93    1,776,000     13,767     26,000
   10/88       56,000    |    10/93    2,056,000     16,533     28,000
   01/89       80,000    |    01/94    2,217,000     20,539     30,000
                         |    10/94    3,864,000     37,022     56,000
                         |    01/95    4,852,000     39,410     71,000
                         |    07/95    6,642,000     61,538    120,000
                         |    01/96    9,472,000     93,671    240,000


USENET (News Groups) growth summary: 

   Date  Sites  ~MB  ~Posts  Groups  |  Date   Sites   ~MB  ~Posts  Groups
   ----  -----  ---  ------  ------  +  ----  -------  ---  ------  ------
   1979      3            2       3  |  1986     2200  2.0     946     241
   1980     15           10          |  1987     5200  2.1     957     259
   1981    150  0.05     20          |  1988     7800  4.4    1933     381
   1982    400           35          |  1989
   1983    600          120          |  1991
   1984    900          225          |  1992   63,000   42  17,556
   1985   1300  1.0     375          |  1993   69,000   50  19,362
                                     |  1994  190,000  190  72,755

      ~ approximate: MB - megabytes per day, Posts - articles per day

Hobbes' Internet Timeline Copyright (c)1993-4 by Robert H Zakon.
Permission is granted for use of this document in whole or in part for non commercial purposes as long as appropriate credit is given to the author/ maintainer. For commercial uses, please contact the author first.

Q: Why did you compile Hobbes' Internet Timeline?
A: For use in the Internet courses I teach.

Q: How do I get the current "Hobbes' Internet Timeline"?
A: The Timeline is archived at: http://info.isoc.org/guest/zakon/Internet/History/HIT.html
If you prefer a copy via e-mail, send a blank message to timeline@hobbes.mitre.org
For comments or corrections please use hobbes@hobbes.mitre.org

Q: What do you do at MITRE?
A: I design the soccer shoe of the future (wrong MITRE :-) Actually, I wear the following hats: Net Evangelist, HCI Engineer, Systems Integrator, Information Engineer, NIDR Administrator, Lead Scientist, Instructor, He with the Most Toys...

Q: Is your license plate really NET SURF?
A: Yes, and there is a frame around it with INTERNET at the top, and my e-mail address at the bottom. (My wife is too embarrassed to drive it. :)
Oh, and the bumper sticker says "I'd Rather Be Net Surfing"

Q: Why don't you list the number of Internet users?
A: This is too controversial, and relatively inaccurate, an issue which the author does not want to get flamed or spammed for. His guess would be between 1 (himself) and 5 billion (but then again, one never knows if you're a dog on the Net).

Q: Can I re-print the Timeline or use parts of it for ... ?
A: Drop me an e-mail. The answer is most likely (though don't assume) 'yes' for non-profit use, and 'maybe' for for-profit; but to be sure you are not going to break any copyright laws, drop me an e-mail and wait for a reply.

Cerf, Vinton (as told to Bernard Aboba). "How the Internet Came to Be." This article appears in "The Online User's Encyclopedia," by Bernard Aboba. Addison-Wesley, 1993.

Hardy, Henry. "The History of the Net." Master's Thesis, School of Communications, Grand Valley State University.

Hauben, Ronda. "From ARPANET to Usenet News." The Amateur Computerist, Volume 5, No. 3-4, Story 1.

Kulikowski, Stan II. "A Timeline of Network History." Unpublished?

Quarterman, John. "The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide." Bedford, MA: Digital Press. 1990

Internet growth summary compiled from output of the zone program available at ftp://ftp.nisc.sri.com/pub/zone

glg - Gail L. Grant (grant@pa.dec.com)
mpc - Mellisa P. Chase (pc@mitre.org)
sc1 - Susan Calcari (susanc@is.internic.net)
sk2 - Stan Kulikowski (stankuli@uwf.bitnet) - see sources section

Please send all comments to jay@cc.utah.edu
This page was last modified on March 1, 1997.