World Wide Web
Tim Berners-Lee's invention at CERN democratized the internet. HTML, URLs, and HTTP created a 'web' of interconnected documents. The WWW transformed the internet from a research tool into humanity's shared knowledge space.
Berners-Lee's Vision
While ARPANET connected computers, Tim Berners-Lee wanted to connect information. Working at CERN, he proposed a system where documents could link to other documents anywhere on the network—a "web" of knowledge. His invention combined three technologies:
- HTML: HyperText Markup Language for creating documents
- URL: Uniform Resource Locator for addressing documents
- HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol for fetching documents
The First Website
On August 6, 1991, info.cern.ch became the first website. It explained what the World Wide Web was and how to use it. The browser was called WorldWideWeb (later Nexus). By the end of 1991, several other sites had appeared, and the web was born.
The Browser Wars
Marc Andreessen's NCSA Mosaic (1993) made the web accessible to non-technical users. He then founded Netscape, whose Navigator browser captured 90% market share by 1995. Microsoft's rushed Internet Explorer launch began the first browser war—one that Microsoft ultimately won but at the cost of web standardization suffering.
The Dot-Com Boom and Bust
By 1999, any company with ".com" in its name could command billion-dollar valuations. Pets.com, Webvan, and thousands of others burned through venture capital before collapsing in 2000-2001. Yet survivors like Amazon, eBay, and Google proved the web's fundamental commercial viability.
Web 2.0 and Beyond
The 2000s saw the rise of user-generated content: blogs, wikis, social networks. Ajax made web applications feel responsive. Mobile devices made the web accessible everywhere. Today, the web encompasses billions of pages, billions of users, and services that have become essential infrastructure.