Internet milestones

In little over 10 years, the internet has become a global phenomenon. In 1995 it was used by about 45 million people around the world. By 2006, the figure had more than doubled to 1,018,057,386. By the time you read this, the figures will have increased again.
During the 1960s scientists in the USA began trying to work out how organizations could keep in touch with one another after a nuclear attack. In 1965 ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) suggested linking computers. In 1969 computers at four US universities were connected and were able to ‘talk’ to each other for the first time.
The network was extended and in 1973 computers were connected between London and Norway. At the same time, electronic mail (e-mail) was being used more and more to send messages between computers. In 1976 Queen Elizabeth II became the first monarch to send an e-mail message. In 1979 the first Usenet newsgroups (online discussion groups) began.