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  The Internet was created “in the 1960s as a way for government researchers to share information. Computers in the '60s were large and immobile and in order to make use of information stored in any one computer, one had to either travel to the site of the computer or have magnetic computer tapes sent through the conventional postal system.” (Brief History). Although other scientists and engineers had ideas to create something like the Internet before the 1960’s, the first workable prototype of the Internet came in the late 1960s with the creation of ARPANET, or the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, originally funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.” (Andrews). 

However, the date typically referred to as the “Internet’s birthday” is January 1, 1983 because researchers began to create the “network of networks” that transformed into the modern Internet. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. “While it’s often confused with the internet itself, the web is actually just the most common means of accessing data online in the form of websites and hyperlinks.” (Andrews). “The web was originally conceived and developed to meet the demand for automated information-sharing between scientists in universities and institutes around the world.” (“CERN Accelerates”). Today, the World Wide Web is used for a plethora of reasons. It’s used by businesses to connect with new clients, students to collect online research, and millions of people who use social media sites, just to name a few.

The World Wide Web and the Internet are not the same thing, but they do work together. “The world wide web, or web for short, are the pages you see when you're at a device and you're online. But the internet is the network of connected computers that the web works on, as well as what emails and files travel across.” (BBC). They work together to create and spread data from our computers to others. “The first website at CERN – and in the world – was dedicated to the World Wide Web project itself and was hosted on Berners-Lee's NeXT computer. In 2013, CERN launched a project to restore this first ever website: info.cern.ch. (“CERN Accelerates”). “Tim also wrote the first web page editor/browser (“WorldWideWeb.app”) and the first web server (“httpd“). By the end of 1990, the first web page was served on the open internet, and in 1991, people outside of CERN were invited to join this new web community.” (“CERN Accelerates”).

Hedy Lamarr was a Hollywood actress in the 1930’s who immigrated from Austria. She was also an inventor, but at the time, many of her inventions were overlooked due to her being a woman, as well as a face for beauty, glamor, and Hollywood. Lamarr co created a device that would help the Navy hop around on radio frequencies in order to stop radio signals from being jammed. She patented it in 1942 and presented it to the Navy, but they didn’t take it seriously and brushed off her invention. This invention “was eventually used to develop the CDMA technology that we use for our modern wireless communications.” Lamarr and the other co-creator were eventually credited in 1997.

“Bluetooth is the technology that enables exchange of data between devices within a short amount of distance. What separates Bluetooth radio waves from the broadcast sent out by your favorite pop station is the fact that Bluetooth waves don't travel very far and are constantly switching frequencies.” (John) “In 1993, while in Sweden, Haartsen started working on indoor wireless communication systems. He was tasked with finding a solution for short-range radio connections that would add functionality to mobile phones and enable new sales. He played an active role in the creation of the Bluetooth Special Interest group which was founded in 1998, and served as chairman for the SIG air protocol specifications group from 1998 till 2000, driving the standardization of the Bluetooth radio interface.” (“NIHF Inductee”). 

The name “Bluetooth” dates back more than a millennia to King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson who was well known for Uniting Denmark and Norway in 958. He was also known for “His dead tooth, which was a dark blue/grey color, and earned him the nickname Bluetooth. Later, when it came time to select a serious name, Bluetooth was to be replaced with either RadioWire or PAN (Personal Area Networking). PAN was the front runner, but an exhaustive search discovered it already had tens of thousands of hits throughout the internet. The Bluetooth logo is a bind rune merging the Younger Futhark runes (Hagall) (ᚼ) and (Bjarkan) (ᛒ), Harald’s initials.” (“Origin Name”).

“Vic Hayes is often regarded as the “father of Wi-Fi.” He started such work in 1974 when he joined NCR Corp., now part of semiconductor components maker Agere Systems. In 1991, NCR Corporation with AT&T Corporation invented the precursor to 802.11, intended for use in cashier systems. The first wireless products were under the name WaveLAN. They are the ones credited with inventing Wi-Fi. In 1999, the Wi-Fi Alliance formed as a trade association to hold the Wi-Fi trademark under which most products are sold. The name Wi-Fi, commercially used at least as early as August 1999, was coined by the brand-consulting firm Interbrand.” (Admin)

Works Cited

A Brief History of the Internet, https://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit07/internet07_02.phtml. 

Admin. “The History of WIFI: 1971 to Today.” CableFree, 18 May 2017, https://www.cablefree.net/wireless-technology/history-of-wifi-technology/. 

Andrews, Evan. “Who Invented the Internet?” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 18 Dec. 2013, https://www.history.com/news/who-invented-the-internet. 

“CERN Accelerating Science.” CERN, https://home.cern/science/computing/birth-web. 

Lauren Grace More Articles Published on April 26, 2021. “How Actress Hedy Lamarr Became the Inventor Responsible for Your Wi-Fi Connection.” Showbiz Cheat Sheet, 26 Apr. 2021, https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/hedy-lamarr-became-inventor-responsible-wi-fi-connection.html/. 

“Origin of the Name.” Bluetooth® Technology Website, https://www.bluetooth.com/about-us/bluetooth-origin/. 

John, Steven. “'What Is Bluetooth?': A Beginner's Guide to the Wireless Technology.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 20 May 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-bluetooth. 

“NIHF Inductee Jaap C. Haartsen Invented Bluetooth Wireless Technology.” NIHF Inductee Jaap C. Haartsen Invented Bluetooth Wireless Technology, https://www.invent.org/inductees/jaap-c-haartsen. 

“What's the Difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web? - CBBC Newsround.” BBC News, BBC, https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47523993.