History of the Internet

The development of the Internet from early packet-switching networks into a global system of interconnected networks, protocols, and infrastructure.

ARPANET: An early packet-switching network funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and launched in 1969. Its first host connections established a working precursor to the Internet.
TCP/IP: The Internet protocol suite that moves data between networks and provides reliable transport when needed. Its adoption let unlike packet networks communicate as an interconnected system.
Vint Cerf: An American computer scientist who co-designed the TCP/IP protocols with Robert Kahn. His protocol work helped make internetworking practical across diverse networks.
World Wide Web: An information system of linked documents and resources accessed over the Internet. Its browsers and hyperlinked pages made the Internet accessible to broad public audiences.
Circuit switching: A communication method that reserves a dedicated path between endpoints for the duration of a connection. Its reserved paths contrast with the Internet's packet-based sharing of network links.
Packet switching: A method of transmitting data by dividing it into packets sent independently across a network. It offered a practical alternative to dedicated circuits for resilient computer communication.
Internet Protocol: The protocol that addresses and routes datagrams across interconnected networks. IP supplies the common addressing and forwarding layer at the Internet's core.
Robert Kahn: An American engineer who co-designed TCP/IP and advanced packet-networking research. His internetworking design with Cerf shaped the Internet's central protocol architecture.
Commercial Internet: Internet connectivity and services operated for commercial use rather than solely for research or government. Commercial providers and services accelerated expansion beyond academic and government networks.
Telecommunications network: A system of interconnected technologies that carries information between distant locations. The Internet developed within a broader history of telegraph, telephone, and data networks.

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