At Lucid, we are experts in both the latest hardware and software — but we are also very interested in the history behind our industry, and the earliest versions of the technology we work with every day. In the August edition of Learn with Lucid, we are looking back at the origins and purpose of the world wide web.
What is the World Wide Web?
A common misconception is that the world wide web and the internet are the same thing! The internet is a network of connected computers that stretches across the world. The world wide web is a system of webpages, accessible to the public, that can be found on the Internet. In the simplest terms, the world wide web is an interconnected library of resources that is designed to be easy to navigate and share.
The World Wide Web: A Timeline
1989 — Tim Berners-Lee invents the world wide web whilst he is working at CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research). The original design was created to allow
thousands of scientists across the globe to share information and research.
1990 — The first server and browser for the WWW are already up and running. You can still access the world’s first website here!
1991 — Berners-Lee releases his world wide web software, which was available on CERN computers. He announces his invention on the Internet, where many people outside the scientific community express interest.
1991 — By December, a server is installed in California: the first web server outside Europe.
1992 — The WWW software is no longer a prototype, proving to be useful and reliable.
1993 — CERN makes the source code available on a royalty-free basis so that the software is free to use. The world wide web is now officially in the public domain!
1994 — CERN holds the first International world wide web conference. Berners-Lee founds the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), at MIT. He remains the Director of W3C to this day.
2004 — Berners-Lee is knighted by Queen Elizabeth for “services to the global development of the internet”.
2019 — The world wide web celebrates its 30 th anniversary. If this all sounded a bit technical, never fear — the Lucid team are here! We provide industry- leading outsourced IT support, and a wide range of other services. For more information, you
can contact us here.