Internet History: Timeline 1971–1979 (Part 4)

The beginning of the digital odyssey

The 1970s mark a crucial period in the history of the Internet. This decade saw the laying of the fundamental circuitry that paved the way for the Internet as we know it today. Many of the large and influential players in the technology landscape, such as Microsoft and Apple, also had their beginnings in the 1970s.

1971

In 1971, ARPANET was improved by another technology – email messaging. A member of the BBN Company, Roy Tomlinson, implemented a program that allowed users to send email messages over the ARPANET distributed network.

At the beginning, the entire program was actually a combination of two programs:

1. CPYNET (a file transfer software)
2. SENDMSG (Intra-Machine Email Software)

Source: Wikipedia

In the same year, Michael Hart started Project Gutenberg. The aim was to make various resources and works available electronically free of charge. The US Declaration of Independence is the first information available.

Source: Wikipedia

People Ray Tomlinson – born 1941 in Amsterdam, New York. He was one of the pioneers of computer programming. His greatest success is the implementation of an email system in ARPANET. This earned him the title “inventor of email.” Tomlinson died in 2016. Source: Wikipedia Michael Hart – born 1947 in Tacoma, Washington. He is best known for his life’s work “Project Gutenberg” and as the inventor of e-books. He filled the ARPANET with free books and other resources to make them available to everyone. Source: Wikipedia Technologies & Companies Email program – The first ever email program was designed to work on PDP-10 computers. It was a combination of two programs. READMAIL retrieved email while SNDSMG sent email. The programs worked on Tenex operating systems. Source: Stanford Project Gutenberg – This project is an attempt to digitize essential resources and contribute to the online distribution of e-books. It is the oldest digital library in the world and still exists on the Internet today. This is a public domain platform that provides most things for free. Source: Wikipedia

1972

The email program used in ARPANET was modified by Ray Tomlinson. To distinguish between local and global emails, a new character (@) has been introduced. At the same time, Larry Roberts began writing the first email management program.

The program is called RD and ultimately allows users to reply, forward, file and read emails. While all of this is happening, the IMP network is slowly growing and currently has 23 hosts and 15 nodes. ARPANET is presented to the public for the first time by Robert Kahn.

20 computers are networked at the International Computer Communication Conference. This is truly the moment when the public learns how important packet switching will be to the future of computing.

Source: Live Science

The first Internet address register is created by Jon Postel and other scientists. This technology will later be transformed into IANA or Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. All of this enables IP addresses and many other important Internet functions.

In France, Louis Pouzin leads his own team in building his own ARPANET called CYCLADES. Although CYCLADES was built on the same principles as ARPANET, it was intended for networking only.

Source: Wikipedia

People Robert Kahn – born 1938 in Brooklyn, New York. This electrical engineer is known for his collaboration with Vint Cerf and the establishment of the two essential Internet protocols IP and TCP. These are still the basic communication protocols today. Source: Wikipedia Louis Pouzin – born 1931 in Nièvre, France. This engineer and computer scientist developed CYCLADES, a packet communications network similar to ARPANET. The network contributed to the TCP/IP protocols and used the datagram model. Source: Wikipedia Technologies & Companies The “@” sign – Roy Tomlinson introduced the “@” symbol to indicate networked email. The character separated the user’s name from the machine’s name, a practice that is still used in email today. Source: The edge Internet address register – Internet Address Registry or Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is an organization that tracks the assignment of IP addresses on a global scale and performs root zone management for DNS, Internet numbers and other symbols related to Internet protocols. Source: Wikipedia CYCLADES – one of the first research networks to use packet switching. The hosts had to deliver the data independently and there was no central delivery service. Transport protocols were used to exchange datagrams. Source: Wikipedia First email management program – Initially, ARPANET sent emails “manually,” which required coding. That’s why Larry Roberts decided to simplify work on ARPANET and create the first email management program that makes it easier to send, manage and forward emails. This program was the basis of email as we know it today. Source: The Guardian

1973

Ethernet was invented in 1973 by Bb Metcalfe at Xerox Parc. Metcalfe was given the task of connecting a computer room and building a network.

Source: Internet Hall of Fame

At the same time, Robert Kahn and Vint Cerf began developing the main Internet protocol, TCP/IP. This protocol will be the major breakthrough that would allow different networks to communicate using the same standards.

Source: Internet Hall of Fame

Danny Cohen implemented Packet Voice and Packet Video when setting up the visual flight simulator and extending its capabilities to ARPANET. This is called the Network Voice Protocol and was the first time that packet switching was used in applications that ran in real time.

Source: Internet Hall of Fame

ARPANET went international when the University College of London made a successful connection. The connection was made via NORSAR in Norway.

Source: Wikipedia

People Bob Metcalfe – born 1946 in Brooklyn, New York. He was one of the co-inventors of Ethernet, formulated Metcalfe’s Law and founded 3Com. Metcalfe has received numerous awards for his work and is considered one of the pioneers of the Internet. Source: Wikipedia Danny Cohen – born 1937 in Haifa, Israel. He is one of the greatest Internet pioneers of the 1960s. He used the ARPANET to operate the first real-time visual flight simulator. Cohen was also the person who designed the simulator. The American-Israeli scientist died in 2019 Source: Wikipedia Louis Pouzin – born 1931 in Nièvre, France. This engineer and computer scientist developed CYCLADES, a packet communications network similar to ARPANET. This network contributed to the TCP/IP protocols and used the datagram model. Source: Wikipedia Technologies Ethernet – a set of computer technologies commonly used to build local area networks (LAN), but also wide area networks (WAN) and metropolitan area networks (MAN). The first Ethernet network was established in 1973 and patented in 1975. Source: Wikipedia TCP/IP protocol – The Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol are two essential Internet communication protocols. This technology enables computers to communicate from long distances. TCP is responsible for reassembling and collecting data packets, while IP determines the destination where the packets should go. Source: Britannica Network voice protocol – NVP was the first computer network protocol to enable the transmission of human speech. It used a packet switching communication principle. This was the first voice protocol for the Internet. Source: Wikipedia

1974

Elizabeth Feinler joined SRI International’s NIC (Network Information Center). This event was very important because Feinler founded a group that played an important role in the development of the first white and yellow page Internet servers.

They also created the Host Naming Registry, the WHOIS server, and query-based hostnames for the Internet. Their group also created the first major domain names for the Internet, including .com, .gov, .org, .edu, .net, and so on.

Source: Internet Hall of Fame

Robert Kahn and Vint Cerf continued their work and successfully published a new paper detailing how the TCP (Transmission Control Program) should be designed. Cerf and Khan are the people who coined the term “Internet”.

Source: Internet Hall of Fame

In the same year, ARPANET became commercial as Telenet. It was the first packet data switching network developed by the BBN Company and Lawrence Roberts.

Source: Wikipedia

People Elizabeth Feinler – born 1931 in Wheeling, West Virginia. As director of the Network Information Systems Center at Stanford, she led the group that runs the NIC. She was the leader of the entire ARPANET era and an integral part of the development of the network and the creation of the Internet as we know it today. Source: Wikipedia Danny Cohen – born 1937 in Haifa, Israel. He is one of the greatest Internet pioneers of the 1960s. He used the ARPANET to operate the first real-time visual flight simulator. Cohen was also the one who designed the simulator. The American-Israeli scientist died in 2019. Source: Wikipedia Louis Pouzin – born 1931 in Nièvre, France. This engineer and computer scientist developed CYCLADES, a packet communications network similar to ARPANET. The network contributed to the TCP/IP protocols and used the datagram model. Source: Wikipedia Technologies Network Information Center (NIC) – NIC was the first verifier to regulate and coordinate all network operations for ARPANET. NIC published numbers for the network and provided directory assistance services to anyone using the network. Source: Wikipedia Top level domain – a domain located at the top level of the Internet and domain name hierarchy. Initially, the domain space for top-level domains was divided into three categories, including multiple organizations, categories and countries. Initially, the ARPA infrastructure top-level domains were the only ones, but they evolved along with the Internet. Source: Wikipedia

1975

The development of the interconnected networks that originated from ARPANET was always controlled by ARPA, but in 1975 operational management of these networks (the Internet) was transferred to the Defense Communications Agency (DCA).

In the same year, the first unified email platform was created. Anyone on the network could use it to compose, forward, and reply to their messages.

UCL, BBN and Stanford carried out tests over new satellite links stretching from the UK to Hawaii.

Raphael Finel published Jargon File.

Source: The History of the Internet

A small company called “Microsoft” was co-founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates.

Source: Wikipedia

People John Vital – Date of birth: unknown. Vittal was an American computer programmer who was responsible for the development of email as we know it today. His MSG program demonstrated how user-friendly and accessible email can be for everyone. Source: Society for IT History Raphael Finkel – born 1951 in Chicago, Illinois. A respected professor and computer scientist. He created the first ever jargon file and wrote many books about programming, operating systems, and paradigms in programming. Source: Wikipedia Bill Gates – born 1955 in Seattle, Washington. One of the most famous businessmen and software developers in the world. As a co-founder of Microsoft, he created the most commercially successful operating system, Windows. Source: Wikipedia Paul Allen – born 1953 in Seattle, Washington. He is best known as a co-founder of Microsoft and a successful businessman. He remained on Microsoft’s board until his death in 2018. Source: Wikipedia Technologies MSG email program – the first easy-to-use email platform that anyone can use. MSG was very useful to people using ARPANET and was crucial to exchanging information and developing new ideas that would perfect the Internet. Source: phrase

1976

The Queen of England, Elizabeth II, sent an email from Malvern-based RSRE on March 26^Th 1976. It was the first time a monarch sent an email.

Source: MRATHS

AT&T Bell Labs began developing the Unix to Unix Copy Program (UUCP). A year later, the company began distributing UUCP along with UNIX.

Source: The University of Rhode Island

Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple in April.

Source: Wikipedia

People Steve Jobs – born in San Francisco, California. Jobs is one of the most revered technology tycoons, known as the co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc. He was a key player during the personal computer revolution. Jobs died in 2011. Source: Wikipedia Steve Wozniak – born 1950 in San Jose, California. Wozniak is an entrepreneur, programmer and electronics engineer. As a co-founder of Apple Inc., Wozniak designed the Apple I and Apple II, which were groundbreaking microcomputers. Source: Wikipedia Ronald Wayne – born 1934 in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the three co-founders of Apple Inc. However, a year after the company was founded, he lost all ownership rights and left Apple permanently. Source: Wikipedia Technologies & Companies UUCP – Unix to Unix Copy is a protocol and computer program suite. They allow the remote transfer of files and commands between computers. It was originally implemented on UNIX. Source: Wikipedia Apple Inc. – one of the largest Big Tech companies in the world. Founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. Apple sells, develops and designs computer hardware, electronics and software and provides various software services. Source: Wikipedia

1977

Larry Landweber founded THEORYNET at the University of Wisconsin. He used TELENET and a local level email system to provide email access and communication to over 100 computers at the university. THEORYNET is the spiritual predecessor of CSNET.

Source: FTP server

People Lawrence Landweber (Larry Landweber) – born 1953 in Brooklyn, New York. Computer scientist and professor. His greatest achievements are the development of NSFNET and his efforts to popularize TCP/IP in the computer science community. Source: Society for IT History Technologies THEORYNET – This was the first college-level computer network used by scientists at the University of Wisconsin. It enabled file transfer and email communication. THEORYNET is the predecessor of the Computer Science Network (CSNET), which was intended to serve as a common network for all US universities. Source: Internet Hall of Fame statistics 100 hosts – a computer networking system developed and used at the University of Wisconsin. It used TELENET as a network server and had an email system. It was used by 100 scientists on campus. Source: Internet Hall of Fame

1978

The first spam ever is recorded. DEC employee Gary Thuerk sent an email advertisement to nearly 400 ARPANET users. The email advertised System 20 minicomputers sold by the DEC. Email recipients were encouraged to stop by their stores and view their product.

Source: Cnet.com

People Gary Thuerk – Date of birth unknown. Known as the “Father of Spam” and “Father of Email Marketing”. He is a hidden innovator and the first person to ever send unsolicited commercial email. Source: Lon Safko Technologies First spam – The first spam email was sent to 600 Internet addresses, but only over half of the recipients received it. Gary Thuerk and Carl Gartley wrote a single email message and sent it to a large number of addresses at the same time. Source: Wikipedia

1979

James Ellis and Tom Truscott create the Usenet system. Usenet is the world’s first online chat service and still exists today. It is the forerunner of peer-to-peer systems, Internet chat applications and online message boards.

Source: Wikipedia

People Tom Truscott – Date of birth unknown. Truscott is a curious programmer and entrepreneur. In addition to developing Usenet, he worked for Bell Labs, where he developed one of the first computer chess programs. He also published many articles on UNIX and worked for IBM. Source: NewsDemon James Tice Ellis – born 1956 in Nashville, Tennessee. His life’s work is the development of Usenet, for which he was awarded the Usenix Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. Ellis died in 2001. Source: Wikipedia Technologies Usenet – a globally distributed computer chat system. Tom Truscott and Jime Ellis finished it off in 1980 with the Unix-to-Unix copy dial-up architecture. Usenet used newsgroups to post and read various types of news. Source: Wikipedia

To be continued

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