Technological milestone

The birth of the World Wide Web

Opening a linked information system for use across the internet.

When: 1989–1993
Where: CERN, Switzerland

The NeXT computer used by Tim Berners-Lee as the first Web server, displayed at CERN in 2005.

Tim Berners-Lee developed the Web at CERN to connect information held across different computers. Its growth depended on technical standards and the decision to make the software freely available, rather than on the invention of the internet itself.

Background

Information scattered across systems

Researchers needed to find and share documents across institutions. Hypertext supplied a way to move between related pieces of information.^[1]

What happened

1989
Initial proposal
Berners-Lee proposed an internet-based system for linking information.^[1]
1993
Public-domain release
On 30 April, CERN made the Web software available in the public domain.^[1]

Impact & evidence

1989–1993

Connecting documents across computers

Tim Berners-Lee’s proposal at CERN addressed the difficulty of sharing information among researchers using different computers. The Web combined linked documents, addresses and a means of requesting pages; an early browser and server made the proposal usable. It operated over the existing Internet. CERN’s 1993 decision to make the software freely available helped others build compatible services without seeking a licence from the laboratory.^[1]

Aftermath & legacy

An open platform

The Web's availability helped it spread far beyond physics. It is one service built on the internet, so the histories of the Web and the underlying network should remain distinct.^[1]

Sources & image credits (1)