The
first teletype is connected to a "timesharing" mainframe
computer.
The
first ARPANET node
is installed at UCLA Network Measurement Center.
The
first "Requests for Comments" (RFC)
proposed to standardize the transfer of information across the ARPA network.
The
first ARPANET network email message is transmitted.
File Transfer
Protocol (FTP)
is first proposed.
Dialog offers
the first publicly available online research service.
The
first ARPANET nodes appear in Europe.
Bob
Metcalfe invents Ethernet,
a local area network (LAN) technology.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) specification is published.
Ohio State University introduces one of the first online catalogs.
First list servers
are introduced.
100 hosts exist on ARPANET.
Dallas
Public Library introduces one of the first online public catalogs (OPACs).
A "worm" program
that searches out other computers copies itself then self-destructs is
invented by two Xerox PARC researchers.
USENET emerges
as a collection of user-submitted messages on various subjects posted
to servers on a worldwide network.
Digital
faxes using uniform data standards appear.
The TELNET protocol
is specified, allowing command line login sessions between hosts.
BITNET,
a network of academic sites comparable to but separate from the Internet,
appears.
ARPANET shifts to TCP/IP.
Architecture of the Domain Name System (DNS) is designed, contains 1000
hosts.
As personal computers
become more powerful, people become accustomed to faster machines and
graphical interfaces. Use shifts from centralized mainframes to personal
computers distributed over a network.
NSFNET replaces
ARPANET as the main government network linking universities and research
facilities.
The
number of DNS hosts begins doubling each year.
NCSA
develops NCSA telnet, making it easier to connect to a remote computer.
Z39.50 becomes
the international standard defining a protocol for computer-to-computer
information retrieval. Z39.50 makes it possible for a user to search
and retrieve information from other computer systems without knowing
the search syntax used by those other systems.
The
Internet Worm virus temporarily shuts down 10% of the world's Internet
servers.
MCI
Mail and Compuserv provide the first commercial email connection through
NSFNET.
Archie software for searching FTP sites is released.
Wide
Area Information Server (WAIS)
protocol is introduced, allowing collections of indexed data to be retrieved
by searches.
An
early World Wide Web (WWW) system is released by CERN to
the high energy physics community.
HyperText
Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
initial draft.
Gopher,
a distributed document search and retrieval network protocol, is released.
Multipurpose
Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)
protocol proposed.
Network
service providers America Online and Delphi connect their proprietary
email systems to the Internet, beginning the large scale adoption of
Internet email as a global standard.
Internic is
created to manage Internet services.
National Science
Foundation dismantles NSFnet and replaces it with a commercial Internet
backbone.
Internet2 project
is formed to provide a high-bandwith network for the national research community.
BITNET is
retired.
The
original version of the standard IEEE 802.11, the wireless LAN standard,
is released, launching the WiFi
phenomenon.
A
human error at Network Solutions causes the Domain Name System (DNS)
table for .com and .net domains to become corrupted, making millions
of systems unreachable.
Two
Web domain-name groups, Network Solutions and the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority, form the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN)
to oversee the domain-name system.
HTTP
1.1 is released.
Bluetooth,
a short range wireless networking standard, is announced. 
The
third WiFi modulation standard, 802.11g, is ratified. Consumers products
and WiFi "hotspots" proliferate.