The son of computer scientists, Berners-Lee was born in London in 1955 (the same year as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates) and studied physics at Oxford. While employed at CERN in the 1980s, Berners-Lee observed how tough it was to keep track of the projects and computer systems of the organization’s thousands of researchers, who were spread around the globe. As he later stated: “In those days, there was different information on different computers, but you had to log on to different computers to get at it. Also, sometimes you had to learn a different program on each computer.”
In March 1989, Berners-Lee gave managers at CERN a proposal for an information management system that used hypertext to link documents on different computers that were connected to the Internet. (Hypertext, a term coined in 1963, allows a person to get a document or piece of content by clicking on a coded word or phrase.) Labelled “vague but exciting” by his boss, the proposal at first wasn’t accepted. Berners-Lee teamed up with Robert Cailliau, a Belgian engineer at CERN, to refine the proposal, and in 1990 the Englishman’s boss gave him time to work on the project. After originally calling the project Information Management, Berners-Lee tried out names such as Mine of Information and Information Mesh before settling on WorldWideWeb.
By the end of 1990, Berners-Lee, using a Steve Jobs-designed NeXT computer, had developed the key technologies that are the bedrock of the Web, including Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), for creating Web pages; Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a set of rules for transferring data across the Web; and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), or Web addresses for finding a document or page. He also had devised a basic browser and Web server software.
The beginning of the Web as a publicly available service on the Internet arrived on August 6, 1991, when Berners-Lee published the first-ever website. Fittingly, the site was about the World Wide Web project, describing the Web and how to use it. Hosted at CERN on Berners-Lee’s NeXT computer, the site’s URL was http://info.cern.ch.
Berners-Lee didn’t try to cash in on his invention and rejected CERN’s call to patent his Web technology. He wanted the Web to be open and free so it could expand and evolve as rapidly as possible. As he later said, “Had the technology been proprietary, and in my total control, it would probably not have taken off. You can’t propose that something be a universal space and at the same time keep control of it.”
In 1993, a team at the University of Illinois’ National Center for Supercomputing Applications released Mosaic, the first Web browser to become popular with the general public. The next few years saw the launch of such websites as Yahoo (1994), Amazon (1995), eBay (1995) and Google (1998). By the time Facebook debuted in 2004, there were more than 51 million websites, according to Internet Live Stats.
Meanwhile, in 1994, Berners-Lee left CERN for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he founded the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an organization that maintains standards for the Web. The low-profile visionary went on to be named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, and in 2004 was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. In 2009, Berners-Lee started the World Wide Web Foundation, an organization focused on ensuring the Web benefits humanity. During the opening ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, he was honored for inventing the Web and tweeted, “This is for everyone.”
As a technology enthusiast with a deep understanding of the history and evolution of the World Wide Web, I can confidently discuss the concepts and events outlined in the article. My expertise in this field is grounded in a comprehensive knowledge of computer science, web development, and the contributions of key figures, including Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
Tim Berners-Lee, born in 1955 to computer scientist parents, embarked on a pivotal journey in the 1980s while working at CERN. His observations of the challenges faced by researchers in accessing information across different computers led to the conceptualization of a groundbreaking solution. In March 1989, he proposed an information management system utilizing hypertext to link documents on computers connected to the Internet.
The proposal, initially deemed "vague but exciting," underwent refinement with the collaboration of Robert Cailliau. In 1990, Berners-Lee was granted time to work on the project, which eventually led to the birth of the World Wide Web. By the end of 1990, he had developed key technologies, including Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).
The public debut of the Web occurred on August 6, 1991, when Berners-Lee published the first-ever website. The site, hosted at CERN, laid the foundation for the global phenomenon we now know. Berners-Lee's decision not to patent his invention was pivotal, as he envisioned the Web as an open and free space for rapid expansion and evolution.
The early '90s witnessed the release of Mosaic, the first popular web browser, and the emergence of websites like Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, and Google. Berners-Lee's departure from CERN in 1994 marked the founding of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at MIT, an organization dedicated to maintaining web standards.
Berners-Lee's influence extended beyond technological realms; he was recognized as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004. In 2009, he established the World Wide Web Foundation, emphasizing the Web's positive impact on humanity.
This brief overview of the article encapsulates key concepts such as the development of web technologies, the birth of the World Wide Web, the open and free nature of the Web, the role of standards through W3C, and Berners-Lee's ongoing commitment to the global benefit of the Web.
