The Internet is woven into the fabric of our everyday lives. “There was a time when people felt the Internet was another world,” said Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, “but now people realize it’s a tool that we use in this world.”
What is the International Internet Day?
Every October 29th, the International Internet Day celebrates a momentous day in the history of telecommunications and technology – the transferring of the first electronic message from one computer to another in 1969. The message sent was the word “login,” but only the letter L and O were successfully transmitted before the system crashed. Even so, this feat indicated the scientists were on the right track and continued the development of this first workable prototype of the Internet – the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET).
History of Internet
As the technology continued to grow, ARPANET adopted the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) communications model in 1983. This adaptation not only set the standards for how data could be transmitted between multiple networks, but it also allowed the researchers and scientists to begin to assemble the “network of networks.” Like any ground shuttering inventions, the Internet was the collective work of pioneering scientists, programmers, and engineers, whose work merged to become the interconnected information web that we know now. It is hard to imagine that the Internet was rarely used in early 1990 but grew rapidly to take over 51% of the information communication by 2000, and more than 97% by 2007!
To this day, the Internet transformed lives and continues to evolve and expand the horizons of its infrastructure of scale, performance, and functionality. It has also become a lifeline for many during the COVID-19 pandemic, solutions such as online food ordering platforms that enabled restaurants to continue operations, curbside or grocery home delivery, remote doctor care, and video conferencing for those who are working and learning from home.
Do you have a story about how Internet changed your life or your unique way to celebrate the International Internet Day? Let us know on social media with #Internetday and tag us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!
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