History Series: Internet
History of the Internet
Over 50 Years Ago
On October 29, 1969, at 10:30 PM, a computer grad student at U.C.L.A. named Charley Kline sent a message to S.R.I. (Stanford Research Institute.) It was the first connection between computer networks. The Internet began!
Charley Kline
We set up a telephone connection between us and the guys at SRI…
We typed the L and we asked on the phone,“Do you see the L?”
“Yes, we see the L,” came the response.We typed the O, and we asked,
“Do you see the O?”
”Yes, we see the O.”Then we typed the G, and the system crashed…
Yet a revolution had begun…
October 29, 1969, log book
Q: What is the Internet?
It’s the “network of interconnected networks.” By that definition, August 29 was the beginning. It was funded by ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency, founded by the U.S. Department of Defense) and became known as ARPANET. Four universities were initially connected: U.C.L.A., Stanford, U.C. Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah.
Q: Is that all there is to it?
Vint Cerf
