The History of the Web

Ever wondered how people found about the web. The first transmission of its existence was a digital one, a Usenet post that sparked a following of early web pioneers.

The Internet, right from the very start, has always been a medium of communication. Almost as soon as there were networks to connect computers, programmers began to figure out ways to transmit information between them. Take Usenet, for instance. Usenet was an early Internet discussion platform, a system akin to modern day message boards. And for a lot of early Internet adopters, it was a platform for conversations that spanned the globe and their preferred method of contact with like-minded spirits.

Which is why two Usenet threads, posted exactly two months apart in 1991, laid the groundwork for some seismic changes in the world of the Internet.

But first, let’s get a handle on Usenet, because it was massively important in the early days of the web. It was originally created by a couple of students at Duke University in 1979. They were able to connect their own server to another server at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Once connected, they began to send messages and announcements between the two schools via Usenet. A year later, Usenet would be integrated directly into ARPANet, which would very soon become the modern day Internet.

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