Internet Time Capsule - A Visual History of the Web

Internet Time Capsule

Explore the evolution of the web through a visual journey of historic milestones and internet artifacts

All Eras

Early Web

Dot-Com Era

Web 2.0

A Journey Through Digital History

The internet has transformed from a small research network into the backbone of modern society. This timeline highlights the key moments, technologies, and cultural phenomena that shaped our digital world—from ARPANET's early days to the social media revolution that changed how we connect.

Technical Foundations

The protocols, hardware, and infrastructure that enable worldwide digital communication.

Digital Culture

The memes, communities, and cultural phenomena that defined each era of the internet.

Web Evolution

From static HTML to dynamic social platforms, the web's continuous transformation.

Early Internet Era (1970s - 1980s)

1977

Map of ARPANET

A map of ARPANET, the precursor to the internet, showing the 111 computer terminals connected to the network in 1977. ARPANET was created by the Department of Defense to allow researchers to share information and resources. The network was initially limited to universities and research institutions.

Learn more about the origins of the internet

1977

First SPAM Email

The first spam email was sent by Gary Thuerk, a marketing manager for the Digital Equipment Corporation. Thuerk sent the email to 320 recipients on ARPANET, advertising a product presentation of the new DECSYSTEM-20 mainframe computers. The reaction was overwhelmingly negative, yet Thuerk claims he sold $13 to $14 million worth of computers through the campaign.

Explore the history of email spam

1982

First Smiley

The first recorded use of a smiley on the internet came in 1982, when computer scientist Scott Fahlman proposed the use of :-) and :-( to distinguish between jokes and serious posts online. The proposal came in response to a post on the Carnegie Mellon University bulletin board, and these emoticons were gradually adopted throughout the early internet community.

Discover the evolution of digital expression

1985

Usenet Newsgroups

Developed by Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis, Usenet was dubbed the "poor man's ARPANET" because it was more accessible to the average person. The network allowed users to post messages and articles in different topic-specific newsgroups. By 1985, around 375 articles were posted a day on Usenet to over 100 active newsgroups.

Explore early internet communities

1988

Internet Relay Chat

Created by Jarkko Oikarinen as a side-project while working at the University of Oulu in Finland, IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is a text-based communication protocol that lets users chat in real-time group conversations, known as channels. By mid-1989, around 40 servers existed worldwide, making IRC one of the first real-time communication systems.

Learn about early chat protocols

The Early Web & Dot-Com Era (1990s)

1991

First Website

In March 1989, Tim Berners-Lee wrote the initial proposal for the World Wide Web, envisioning it as a "universal linked information system" to help researchers share information. In December 1990, he launched the world's first website, info.cern.ch. The site featured details about the WWW project, including an explanation of hypertext and instructions for setting up a web server.

Visit a recreation of the first website

1993

First Webcam

The first webcam was set up in the Trojan Room of the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, its lens focused on a coffee pot. Researchers created the feed so they could check the coffee pot's status without leaving their desks. Millions of people ended up watching the coffee maker online throughout the 1990s.

Explore early webcam technology

1994

Yahoo!

Yahoo! was created by Jerry Yang and David Filo, two Stanford graduate students. Initially just lists of interesting links called "Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web," it took off when they created a program to combine them. Once the guide started getting 50,000 daily hits, they rebranded to Yahoo! (an acronym for Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle).

Discover the early search engines

1994

Geocities

Launched in 1994, Geocities was a website hosting service with a unique twist. Instead of just hosting websites, the site consisted of virtual "neighborhoods" that let users decide where to setup their page. For new internet users, this virtual representation of the real world helped make the complexities of the internet more understable and fun.

Explore the virtual neighborhoods

1996

Dancing Baby

One of the biggest early internet memes, the Dancing Baby was the unintentional result of a plugin demo for 3D Studio Max that could animate two-legged creatures. The animation found a second life when it was recreated from the same files and posted as a GIF to a CompuServe forum. It became endlessly remixed, and even appeared as an hallucination on the show Ally McBeal.

Revisit early internet memes

1999

Napster

Founded by 19-year-old Shawn Fanning, Napster was a revolutionary peer-to-peer service that allowed users to share MP3s. By 2000, Napster had grown to more than 20 million users, with about 14,000 songs downloaded every minute. Napster's rapid rise terrified the music industry, leading to numerous lawsuits that eventually shut down the original service.

Understand the MP3 revolution

Web 2.0 Era (2000s)

2001

Wikipedia

In 2000, founder Jimmy Wales enlisted graduate student Larry Sanger to develop Nupedia, an online encyclopedia reliant on scholarly contributions and a stringent seven-step review process. After a year, the platform had only produced 21 articles. Understanding the need to pivot, in 2001 they launched Wikipedia, a collaborative and open wiki. Within a month, Wikipedia had 600 articles—and 20,000 a year later.

Explore the wiki revolution

2003

Friendster

Launched by Jonathan Abrams in 2003, Friendster became an early social media sensation, quickly amassing three million users. Its rise came after several failed attempts in social networking during the late 90s. Serving as a blueprint for future platforms, Friendster attracted notable early users like Matthew McConaughey and even Mark Zuckerberg.

Learn about early social networks

2004

The Facebook

After the Harvard administration shut down Facemash, a "Hot or Not"-style website to rate students, Mark Zuckerberg launched TheFacebook.com. Unlike MySpace, the site was based on real-world connections, requiring users to have a Harvard e-mail and to use their real name. The platform was an instant hit, with two-thirds of the Harvard student body signing up within a few weeks.

Discover social media's evolution

2005

Me at the Zoo

YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the first YouTube video, "Me at the Zoo," on April 23, 2005. The 19-second clip features Karim discussing the long trunks of two elephants at the San Diego Zoo. Initially conceived as a dating site, YouTube pivoted to online entertainment just as conditions became ripe for widespread video sharing.

Watch the first YouTube video

2006

First Tweet

Co-founder Jack Dorsey sent the first-ever tweet—"just setting up my twttr" on March 21st, 2006. Twitter was initially designed as an SMS-based platform for friends to share status updates. It was called "twttr," since it was cool at the time remove vowels from company names. The platform's breakthrough came during the South by Southwest conference in 2007.

Explore microblogging history

The Internet Today

From humble beginnings to the foundation of modern society, the internet continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. Today's emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, and the metaverse are shaping the next chapter of our digital journey.

Looking Back

The internet has transformed from a research project connecting a handful of computers to a global network of billions of devices. Each era brought new possibilities, challenges, and cultural phenomena that shaped our digital experiences.

Looking Forward

As we enter a new era of the web, emerging technologies promise to redefine how we connect, create, and share. Just as the artifacts in this timeline shaped yesterday's internet, today's innovations will become tomorrow's digital landmarks.

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