through 1969
| 70's | 80's | 90's
1980’s ARPANET expands and other
networks emerge
1980
- Due to virus ARPANET comes to a complete halt.
- ARPANET has 213 hosts, with a new
host added approximately once every 20 days. (32)
- CSNET (Computer Science NETwork) is built by the University of
Wisconsin, the University of Delaware, Purdue University, RAND Corp., and BBN through
grant funds from the National Science Foundation. CSNET is later known as the Computer and
Science Network, and was not connected to ARPANET.
- The system serves as a cooperative network between
the City University of New York and Yale. The low-cost network later expands throughout
United States and to overseas.
- BITNET provides electronic mail,
listserves, as well as, file transfers (FTP) to distribute information. (33)
1982
- DCA (Defense Communication Agency)
and DARPA establish the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet
Protocol (IP) and the protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP for ARPANET.
- DOD also declares TCP/IP as a
standard.
- Thus, the first definition of an
"Internet" is established as a connected set of networks, specifically those
using TCP/IP.
- EUnet, the European UNIX Network
is formed by EUUG for email and USENET services. The original connections include: the
Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and the UK.
1983
- Time
Magazine (Jan. 3) announces "the Computer" as the Man of the
Year. (34)
- NASA
creates SPAN (Space Physics Analysis Network) as part of their network infrastructure. (35)
- ARPANET split into ARPANET and
MILNET. The military network, MILNET, became integrated with the Defense Data Network
created the previous year. Sixty-eight of the 113 existing nodes went to MILNET.
- A gateway between CSNET/ARPANET
is created.
Networking usage changes from having a single,
large time sharing computer, to connecting entire local networks.
1984
- Domain Name System or DNS http://www.dns.net/dnsrd/ is introduced to identify
the type of institution which represents the host. Six large domains were named: edu
(education), gov (government), mil (military), com (commercial), org (organization), and
net (network resources). Others were added to represent a country, or government entity,
such as "ci.sat.tx.us" for the City of San
Antonio. (36)
- Newsgroups on USENET can be moderated to keep
topics focused.
- EARN, the European Academic and
Research Network, is formed with funding from IBM.
1985
- Information Sciences Institute
(ISI) at the University of Southern California is given responsibility for DNS root
management by the Defense Communications Agency, and Stanford Research Institute for DNS
Network Information Center registrations.
- On March 15, Symbolics.com is
assigned to become the first registered domain. Other firsts include: cmu.edu, purdue.edu,
rice.edu, ucla.edu, css.gov, mitre.org, and uk.
- Electronic Bulletin Boards , such the WELL,
(Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) http://www.well.com/
by Steward Brand are released. Using his personal computer on his houseboat in
Sasalito, California, he organized discussion groups, from topics such as the
"Grateful Dead" to "Parenting." (37)
- National
Science Foundation awards five supercomputer contracts: Cornell Theory Center
(CTC), the John Von Neumann Center at Princeton (JVNC), the National Center for
Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois, the Pittsburgh
Supercomputing Center (PSC), the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University
of California, San Diego and the General Atomics Company with nuclear engineer Sid Karin
as director. (38)
1986
- NSFNET system is created with a
backbone speed of 56Kbps.
- NSF centers lead to formation of
other regional feeder networks and the hub infrastructure expands. (39)
- Craig Partridge, a programmer at
BBN develops Mail Exchanger (MX), which allows non-IP
network hosts to have domain addresses.
- A severed fiber-optic cable in New England cuts off
the Net as AT&T loses connections between Newark/NJ and White Plains/NY. Seven New
England ARPANET trunk lines were in one spliced cable.
1987
- NSF signs a cooperative agreement
to manage the NSFNET backbone with Merit Network Inc., which is assisted by IBM and MCI.
- Number of hosts breaks 10,000.
1988
- Robert Morris, son of a computer
security expert for the National Security Agency, sent a
worm through the Internet, affecting 6,000 of the 60,000 hosts on the net. He programmed
the worm to reproduce itself and filter through network computers; consequently, the size
of the files filled computers’ memories, thus disabling numerous machines. (40)
- CERT (Computer Emergency Response
Team) http://www.cert.org/nav/aboutcert.html
formed by DARPA in response to the needs exhibited during the Morris worm incident. The
worm is the only advisory issued this year.
- Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
is developed by Jarkko Oikarinen.
- President Ronald Reagan visits the
Soviet Union, and the Cold War, which once was the motive for establishing ARPA is coming
to an end. (41)
1989
- Commercial services emerge, with CompuServe through
Ohio State University.
- First relays between a commercial electronic mail
carrier and the Internet are established through MCI Mail and the Corporation for the
National Research Initiative (CNRI).
- UCLA holds a Act One symposium to celebrate the
ARPANET 20th anniversary and its decommissioning.
- Number of hosts breaks 100,000.
Timeline: through
1969 | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s
Introduction
| Figures | Notes | Acknowledgements
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