What Year Did the Internet Start?
Last Updated Mar 28, 2020 10:21:11 AM ET
The World Wide Web became a global interconnected computer network available to the public on August 6, 1991, according to The Next Web. The first actual instances of connected computers in a network, known as an Internet, were in the 1960s.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the US Department of Defense funded programs where computer scientists were paid to develop Internet protocols. The evolution of the Internet continued in the early 1980s when the National Science Foundation funded a program at many colleges and universities aimed at creating connected computer networks across the United States. Electronic mail and instant messaging joined the WWW as part of the public "Internet" in the mid-1990s.
More From Reference
Will 5G Impact Our Cell Phone Plans (or Our Health?!)
The Secret Science of Solving Crossword Puzzles
Racist Phrases to Remove From Your Mental Lexicon
Is the Coronavirus Crisis Increasing America's Drug Overdoses?
Fact Check: What Power Does the President Really Have Over State Governors?
Festival of Sacrifice: The Past and Present of the Islamic Holiday of Eid al-Adha