The World Wide Web
The invention that connected humanity's knowledge.
Explore this event on the interactive timeline →While working at CERN in Switzerland, British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. He wrote the first web browser and the fundamental technologies that still run the internet today: HTML (formatting), URI (addresses), and HTTP (linking).
Verified Facts
- The "Internet" (the physical network of computers) existed for decades before the "Web." The Web is just an application running on the Internet that uses hypertext links to connect documents.
- Berners-Lee used a NeXT Computer (built by Steve Jobs's company after he was ousted from Apple) to write the first web server and browser.
- Crucially, CERN released the Web software into the public domain for free in 1993, ensuring it would become a universal, open standard rather than a proprietary corporate walled garden.