WWW: The Birth of the Modern Internet

The introduction of the World Wide Web in 1993 revolutionized how people access and share information, marking the beginning of the modern Internet era and transforming global communication.

British computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee laid the foundation for the World Wide Web, who first proposed the concept in 1989 while working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland. He envisioned a system that would enable scientists around the world to easily share and access research data through a global network of interconnected computers.

Berners-Lee developed the core components that would make the web possible, including the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and the Universal Resource Identifier (URI), which later became the Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

In 1991, the first web page was created, but it wasn’t until April 30, 1993, that CERN made the World Wide Web technology available to the public on a royalty-free basis, paving the way for widespread adoption and development. This decision transformed the internet from a primarily academic and military network into a platform accessible to the general public.

In the years that followed, the introduction of graphical web browsers like Mosaic and Netscape Navigator made the web even more user-friendly and accessible, increasing the number of websites and users. As the web grew, it became a platform for diverse applications, including online shopping, social media, and multimedia streaming, forever changing how people communicate, work, and access information.

Today, the World Wide Web is an essential part of everyday life for billions of people around the globe and has had a profound impact on society, culture, and the global economy.