Happy 40th, Internet!
40 years ago today, the first ever inter-network message was sent between two computers: “lo”! And that became the internet.
This first message, between the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Stanford Research Institute, fell a bit short of its original intent, however. Len Kleinrock and his team at UCLA were actually trying to send “login” across the new ARPANET network, but the computer they were working on crashed after the just first two characters. Nonetheless, this first partial-success set the foundations for the de-centralized, global network of computer systems to come.
A few major advancements in technology and commercial ISP offerings later, fast forward to our era of Google, Facebook, Twitter, MMOs and the 24 hour wired IV-drip. Happy 40th, Internet! And don’t worry. In our botox-junkie era, 40 is really more like the new 25.
Full National Geographic Article: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091029-internet-40th-anniversary-birthday.html