History of the Internet
The world today is a much smaller and connected place because of the Internet.
There are all kinds of information available on your fingertips through
the World Wide Web; it is easier and faster to keep in touch with friends
and family. You could be in the United States and chat with your cousin
in a different continent over the Internet.
J.C.R Licklider was the first person in 1962 who put through the concept
of Galactic Network which stated the possibility of an interconnected set
of computers at a Global level through which people could access data and
programs from any site. In response to the launch of the Sputnik in 1957,
the first earth satellite launched by the Russians the United States formed
the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) along with the Department
of Defense (DOD) to work on scientific and technological advances for the
military.
Robert Lawrence was hired by ARPA to create a network based on the vision
of J.C. R. Licklider; Lawrence created the network based on the idea of
packet switching. The ARPANET was developed in 1969 which enabled connectivity
between four points namely the University of California at Los Angeles,
Stanford Research Center, University of Utah and the University of California
at Santa Barbara. In 1973 a networking protocol called TCP/IP was developed
which enabled communication and interconnectivity across diverse networks
and this replaced the Network control protocol used by the ARPANET.
The ARPANET was replaced by the NSFNET which in turn was connected to
the CSNET (Computer science Network) and the EUNET (European Network) which
respectively connected American Universities and Research facilities in
Europe. The World Wide Web was released and first Internet society was
formed in 1992. The Internet started gaining popularity in the 1990’s
and it is practically impossible now to imagine life without the Internet.
