The Dawn of the Digital Odyssey
The 1970’s mark a pivotal period in the the history of the internet. During this decade the foundational circuitry would be laid paving the path for the internet as we know it today. Many of the major and influential players in the technology landscape, like Microsoft and Apple, also go their start in the 1970’s.
1971
In 1971 ARPANET was improved by yet another technology – email messages. A member of the BBN Company Roy Tomlinson implemented a program that allowed users to send email messages across the ARPANET distributed network.
At the beginning, the whole program was actually a combination of two programs:
- CPYNET (a file transfer software)
- SENDMSG (intra-machine email software)
Source: Wikipedia
That same year, Michael Hart started the project Gutenberg. The goal was to make various resources and works available electronically for free. The US Declaration of Independence is the first piece of information available.
Source: Wikipedia
| People Ray Tomlinson – born in 1941 in Amsterdam, New York. He was one of the pioneering computer programmers. His greatest achievement is the implementation of an email system on ARPANET. That’s what let him earn the title “inventor of email”. Tomlinson died in 2016. Source: Wikipedia Michael Hart – born in 1947 in Tacoma, Washington. He is best known for his life work, “Project Gutenberg”, and as the inventor of e-books. He populated 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 emails while SNDSMG sent emails. The programs worked on Tenex operating systems. Source: Stanford Project Gutenberg – this project is the attempt to digitize essential resources and help distribute eBooks online. It’s the oldest digital library in the world and it still exists today on the internet. This is a public domain platform that provides most things for free. Source: Wikipedia |
1972
The email program used on ARPANET was modified by Ray Tomlinson. A new sign (@) was introduced to create a difference between local and global emails. At the same time, Larry Roberts starts writing the first ever program for managing emails.
The program is called RD and it will ultimately let users respond, forward, file, and read emails. While all of this is happening the IMP network is slowly expanding and currently has 23 hosts and 15 nodes. ARPANET is demonstrated to the public by Robert Kahn for the first time.
20 computers are connected at the International Computer Communication Conference. This is actually the moment when the public learned just how important packet-switching will be for the future of computing.
Source: Live Science
The first Internet Address Registry is created by Jon Postel and other scientists. This technology will later turn into IANA or Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. All of this enables IP addresses and many other essential internet functions.
In France, Louis Pouzin is leading a team of his own towards building their own ARPANET called CYCLADES. However, even though CYCLADES was built on the same principles as ARPANET, it was only meant for internetworking.
Source: Wikipedia
| People Robert Kahn – born in Brooklyn, New York in 1938. This electrical engineer is known for working with Vint Cerf and establishing the two essential internet protocols IP and TCP. These are the fundamental communication protocols even today. Source: Wikipedia Louis Pouzin – born in 1931 in Nievre, France. This engineer and computer scientist developed CYCLADES, a packet communications network similar to ARPANET. The enetwork contributed to the TCP/IP protocols and it used the datagram model. Source: Wikipedia Technologies & companies The “@” sign – Roy Tomlinson introduced the “@” symbol to display a networked email. The sign separated the name of the user from the name of the machine, a practice that’s been used for emails to this day. Source: The Verge Internet Address Registry – Internet Address Registry or Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is an organization that tracks IP address allocation on the global level, performs root zone management for DNS, internet numbers, and other symbols related to internet protocols. Source: Wikipedia CYCLADES – one of the first research networks that used packet switching. Hosts had to deliver data independently and there wasn’t a centralized delivery service. Transport protocols were used for exchanging Datagrams. Source: Wikipedia First email management program – at first the emails at ARPANET were sent “manually”, which involved coding. That’s why Larry Roberts decided to make things easier on ARPANET and develop the first email management program that would make sending, managing, and forwarding emails easier. This program was the foundation 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 room of computers and creating a network.
Source: Internet Hall of Fame
At the same time, Robert Kahn and Vint Cerf started developing the most important internet protocol TCP/IP. This protocol will be the major breakthrough that would allow different networks to communicate through the same standards.
Source: Internet Hall of Fame
Danny Cohen implemented the “packet voice and packet video” when setting up the visual flight simulator and upgrading its functions on ARPANET. This is called the “Network Voice Protocol” and it was the first time that packet switching was used with applications running in real time.
Source: Internet Hall of Fame
ARPANET went international as University College of London created a successful link. The connection was established via NORSAR in Norway.
Source: Wikipedia
| People Bob Metcalfe – born in Brooklyn, New York in 1946. He was one of the co-inventors of the Ethernet, formulated Metcalfe’s Law, and founded 3Com. Metcalfe received many awards for his work and is considered one of the pioneers of the internet. Source: Wikipedia Danny Cohen – born in 1937 in Haifa, Israel. He is one of the biggest internet pioneers of the 60s. He used the ARPANET to run the first ever real-time visual flight simulator. Cohen was also the person that designed the simulator. The American-Israeli scientist died in 2019 Source: Wikipedia Louis Pouzin – born in 1931 in Nievre, France. This engineer and computer scientist developed CYCLADES, a packet communications network similar to ARPANET. This network contributed to the TCP/IP protocols and it used the datagram model. Source: Wikipedia Technologies Ethernet – a set of computer technologies often used for creating local area networks (LAN), but also for 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. Through this technology computers are able to communicate from far away. TCP is in charge of reassembling and collecting data packets, while IP pinpoints the destination to which the packets should go. Source: Britannica Network Voice Protocol – NVP was the first ever protocol for computer networks that allowed the transportation of human speech. It used a packet switch communication principle. This was the first Voice protocol for the internet. Source: Wikipedia |
1974
The SRI International’s NIC (Network Information Center) was joined by Elizabeth Feinler. This event was very important because Feinler formed a group that had a major role to play in the development of the first white and yellow-page internet servers.
They also created the Host Naming Registry, WHOIS server, and query-based host names for the internet. Her group also created the first essential 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, successfully publishing a new paper that detailed how the TCP (Transmission Control Program) would be designed. Cerf and Khan are the people who coined the term “Internet.”
Source: Internet Hall of Fame
That same year, ARPANET went commercial as Telenet. It was the first ever packet data switch network made by the BBN Company and Lawrence Roberts.
Source: Wikipedia
| People Elizabeth Feinler – born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1931. As director of the Network Information Systems Center at Stanford she led the group operating the NIC. She was the leader throughout the ARPANET era and was an integral part of the evolution of the network and formation of the internet as we know it today. Source: Wikipedia Danny Cohen – born in 1937 in Haifa, Israel. He is one of the biggest internet pioneers of the 60s. He used the ARPANET to run the first ever 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 in 1931 in Nievre, France. This engineer and computer scientist developed CYCLADES, a packet communications network similar to ARPANET. The network contributed to the TCP/IP protocols and it used the datagram model. Source: Wikipedia Technologies Network Information Center (NIC) – NIC was the first ever auditory body to regulate and coordinate all the network operations for ARPANET. NIC published numbers for the network and gave reference services to all of the people using the network. Source: Wikipedia Top-level domain – a domain located at the top level of the Internet and Domain Name hierarchy. At first, the domain space for top-level domains was separated into three categories including multi organizations, categories, and countries. Initially, the ARPA infrastructure top-level domains were the only ones, but they developed along with the internet. Source: Wikipedia |
1975
The development of the connected networks that started from ARPANET was always controlled by ARPA, but in 1975 the operational management of these networks (the internet) transferred to the Defense Communications Agency (DCA).
That same year, the first unified email platform was created. Anyone on the network could use it for drafting, forwarding, and replying to their messages.
UCL, BBN, and Stanford ran tests through new satellite links stretching from the UK to Hawaii.
Raphael Finel released 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 Vittal – date of birth: unknown. Vittal was an American computer programmer responsible for the development of email as we know it today. His MSG program showed how user-friendly and approachable email can be for everyone. Source: IT History Society Raphael Finkel – born in Chicago, Illinois in 1951. A distinguished professor and computer scientist. He created the first ever Jargon File and wrote many books on programming, operating systems, and paradigms in programming. Source: Wikipedia Bill Gates – born in Seattle, Washington in 1955. One of the best-known businessmen and software developers in the world. As the co-founder of Microsoft, he created the most commercially successful operating system, Windows. Source: Wikipedia Paul Allen – born in Seattle, Washington in 1953. He is best known for being the co-founder of Microsoft and a successful businessman. He remained on the board of Microsoft until his death in 2018. Source: Wikipedia Technologies MSG email program – the first user-friendly email platform that anyone could use. MSG was very useful for people using ARPANET and it was vital for sharing information and the development of new ideas that would perfect the internet. Source: Phrasee |
1976
The Queen of England, Elizabeth II sent an email from RSRE located in Malvern on March 26th 1976. It was the first time ever a monarch sent an email.
Source: MRATHS
AT&T Bell Labs started developing the Unix to Unix Copy Program (UUCP). A year later, the company started 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 tech business magnates, known best as co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc. He was one of the key players during the personal computer revolution. Jobs died in 2011. Source: Wikipedia Steve Wozniak – born in San Jose, California in 1950. Wozniak is an entrepreneur, programmer, and electronics engineer. As co-founder of Apple Inc. Wozniak designed the Apple I and Apple II, which were pioneering microcomputers. Source: Wikipedia Ronald Wayne – born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1934. One of the three co-founders of Apple Inc. However, he forfeited all the rights to ownership a year after the company was founded and left Apple for good. Source: Wikipedia Technologies & companies UUCP – Unix to Unix Copy is a protocol and computer program suite. They enable remote file transfer 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, software, and provides various software services. Source: Wikipedia |
1977
Larry Landweber created THEORYNET at the University of Wisconsin. He used TELENET and an email system on the local level 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 in Brooklyn, New York in 1953. A computer scientist and professor. His greatest achievements are the development of NSFNET and efforts to push the TCP/IP onto the computer science community. Source: IT History Society Technologies THEORYNET – this was the first college-level computer network used by scientists at the University of Wisconsin. It allowed file transfer and email communication. THEORYNET is the predecessor of the Computer Science Network (CSNET) that would serve as a mutual network for all US universities. Source: Internet Hall of Fame Statistics 100 hosts – a computer networking system created 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 the campus. Source: Internet Hall of Fame |
1978
The first ever spam is recorded. A DEC employee Gary Thuerk sent an email advertisement to almost 400 ARPANET users. The email advertised System-20 mini-computers that were sold by the DEC. It asked email recipients to drop by their stores and check out 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 emails. Source: Lon Safko Technologies First spam – the first spam email was sent to 600 internet addresses, but only over a 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 first online chat service in the world and it exists to this day. It’s the precursor to 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. Apart from developing Usenet he worked for Bell Labs where he developed one of the first computer chess programs. He also released a lot of articles on UNIX and worked for IBM. Source: NewsDemon James Tice Ellis – born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1956. His life work is the development of Usenet for which he was awarded with 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 in 1980 using Unix to Unix Copy dial-up architecture. Usenet used newsgroups for posting and reading different types of messages. Source: Wikipedia |
To Be Continued
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