Today, the World Wide Web is taken for granted. Even the United Nations has recognized the right for the Internet access as one of the inalienable human rights. However, not so long ago, the Internet existed only in science fiction and the dreams of scientists. This fact file is devoted to the grandest phenomenon of our age.
Everyone knows that the idea of a computer network was born inside the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Interestingly, the first message transmitted by one ARPANET computer to another was LO. It was originally planned to transmit LOGIN, but after the second letter the line went dead.
The HTTP protocol and the HTML language, ie what we now call the Internet, used to be a by-project of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Yes, the one who came up with the great and terrible Large Hadron Collider. In 1989, the English scientist Tim Berners-Lee suggested a way to improve the internal system of document exchange through the use of hyperlinks. This by-project gave birth to the World Wide Web.
Do you think that the first online broadcast was dedicated to a high-profile event such as a spacecraft launch of the president’s speech? No, you’re wrong! The first webcam ever was installed in the University of Cambridge in 1991 and was directed at a coffee machine. Thanks to it, the scientists didn’t have to leave their seats to find out if their coffee is ready.
Take a close look at this video. Personally, I see a very ordinary young man who, God knows why, wandered into the zoo. In fact, this is the famous American entrepreneur, Jawed Karim, one of the developers of the famous PayPal payment system, the founder of YouTube and the author of the first video uploaded to the site. The one you have just seen.
The world’s first web page was created by Tim Berners-Lee August 6, 1991. It contained information about the World Wide Web, how to install a web server, download a browser and other background information. Subsequently, this page was lost and retrieved thanks to available off-line copies. Today, the page is available here. And if you want to see how it originally looked, here’s the emulator.
Porn industry was one of the first to appreciate the potential of the Internet. Very quickly, adult sites appeared in the network. Subsequently, pornography gave a powerful jolt to many technological innovations, including online payments, streaming video and virtual reality. It is possible that the first real use of robots will also be for adult entertainment.
Every year, Google publishes the popular queries statistics. In 2015, the loudest world events have been the attacks in Paris and the Oscars. A complete list of popular search queries can be found on this page.
