The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing before. The invention of the telegraph, the telephone, radio, and computer set the stage for this unprecedented integration of capabilities. The Internet is at once a worldwide broadcasting capability, a mechanism for information dissemination, and a medium for collaboration and interaction between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic location. The Internet represents one of the most successful examples of the benefits of sustained investment and the commitment to research and development of information infrastructure.

In the early 1960s technology finally began to catch up with some of these ideas. Shortly after MIT’s(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) J.C.R. Licklider popularized the idea of an “Intergalactic Network” of computers, the concept of “packet switching” was developed. This is a method for effectively transmitting electronic data and it would become one of the major building blocks of the internet. In 1966, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), a division of the US Department of Defence, established the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which built on Licklider’s ideas to create a workable prototype of the internet.The ARPANET used packet switching to allow multiple computers to communicate on a single network. The system sent its first node-to-node message on October 29, 1969, between a computer at UCLA (University of California)and a computer at Stanford. The attempt to send a single word , LOGIN,was enough to crash the small network, and the Stanford computer only received the letters LO.

 Although it has been more than 30 years since the internet and the world wide web came into existence, the story of their origin is still sought after and read by people with great interest and excitement. There are dedicated blogs, forums, and foundations that spread awareness among people on issues related to the web.