TIMELINE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS

1958
ARPA (Advanced Research Project Agency), an agency created by the Department of Defense (USA) to obtain technological advantage in the Cold War, starts working on a computer network resistant to a nuclear attack.

1964
Paul Baran from Rand Corporation develops a concept of a network based on the exchange of packages. One package is a “parcel” (a part) of the sent information, that is marked with a destination address.

1969
On September 29th at UCLA, and then at Tyree Rother universities, first network nodes are installed as a part of an experiment founded by ARPA.

1970
First e-mail is sent.

1971
ARPANET connects 23 computers; two years later, it reaches Europe.

1974
The word ,,Internet” is invented.

1977
TCP and IP protocols are invented.

1984
Thousand computers connected to the Internet in Poland.

1985
The term cyberspace is invented (in the William Gibson’s novel „Neuromancer”).

1987
10 thousand computers connected to the Internet.

1988
,,Internet Worm” – a program, wrote by a PhD student at Cornell University, that is capable of self-replication over the Internet, thanks to errors in security system, and can paralyse the whole network in just few days.

1989
In March 1989, Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau submitted to CERN a project to create a network of hypertext documents called World Wide Web.

1990
WebTim Berners-Lee creates HTML – language of the World Wide Web. The address – Info.cern.ch – is an address of the first web server, and the address – http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html – is an address of the first website.
In Poland, first connection with EARN (European Academic and Research Network) is made on the 18th July.

1991
Internet in Poland: first known trail is reply to an e-mail sent from Hamburg on the 23rd August.

1992
First ever graphic web browser called Mosaic is developed.

1993
First web server in Poland (www.fuw.edu.pl).

1994
Yahoo! is created (http://yahoo.com).
The Center of New Technologies Virtual Academy is created in Poland, prototype WP.pl (http://wp.pl).

1995
Internet Explorer is introduced, the Internet browser of Microsoft.
Ebay is created (http://www.ebay.com/), the Internet portal that holds the biggest online auction site in the world.
First online search engine – AltaVista – is created (http://www.altavista.com/).
Amazon is created (http://www.amazon.com/).

1996
Ten million computers connected to the Internet.
First instant messenger – ICQ is created.
The online service On i Net is created, the prototype of Onet.pl(http://onet.pl).

1998
One hundred thousand computers connected to the Internet in Poland.
Google Technology Inc. is created, now Google Inc.

1999
Polish Commercial Internet Forum is created, predecessor of IAB Poland.
Debut of Merlin, the online bookstore.
SMS-Express is created, predecessor of Gadu-Gadu.
o2.pl is launched (http://o2.pl).

2000
The RSS channel is created, the conventional group of mark-up languages to transmit messages and news headlines on user-selected RSS pages.
DeviantArt is created, the online social network of artists (http://www.deviantart.com/).
On the 11th July Google index exceeds 1 milliard elements.

2001
Wikipedia is created (http://pl.wikipedia.org), „the free encyclopaedia, which can be edited by anyone”.

2002
Tor is created (https://www.torproject.org/), the network that enables users to communicate with each other and use the Internet anonymously.
Last.fm is created (http://www.lastfm.pl/), the online radio and a system music recommendations.
LinkedIn is created (http://www.linkedin.com/), social networking site specialising in professional and business contacts.
TinyURL is created (http://www.tinyurl.com/), a tool for shortening the www addresses.

2003
MySpace is created (http://pl.myspace.com/), the social networking site that enables users to write blogs, create their photo galleries and music profiles.
Second Life is created (http://www.secondlife.com/), the virtual world that is a reflection of the real world.
4chan is created (http://4chan.org/), a portal similar to imageboard.
iTunes is created (http://www.apple.com/pl/itunes/), the program used to listen to music and videos developed and distributed by Apple Inc.
Pirate Bay is created, search engine for torrent files that have been uploaded by it users.
Couchsurfing is created (http://www.couchsurfing.org/), the website that enables users to offer a free accommodation to others or to search for a free accommodation in every corners of the world.

2004
Facebook is created (http://facebook.com), the biggest social networking site in the whole world.
Skype is created (http://skype.com), the first international program that enables free (video)calls.
The web browser Mozilla Firefox is created.
Flickr is cretaed (http://flickr.com), the online service for creating photo galleries online.
World of Warcrat (WoW) is created, the MMORPG, (Massively multiplayer online role-playing game) computer game.

2005
YouTube is created (http://youtube.com), the online service that enables users to share and watch videos for free.
Google Earth is created (http://earth.google.com/), the computer program that shows the Earth in a 3D model using satellite images, aerial panoramas taken from the street and various geographic and tourist information.
Megaupload is created, the website, where users can store and download various type of files.

2006
Twitter is created (http://www.twitter.com/), the social networking site for microblogging, enabling users to send each other tweets i.e. messages not longer than 140 characters.
Khan Academy is created (http://www.khanacademy.org/), the non-profit educational organisation that provides quality education to everyone everywhere.

2007
Google Street View is created, the function in Google Maps and Google Earth with which users can get a 360° view from the street level of any place on almost any place on the planet.
Tumblr is created (https://www.tumblr.com/), the microblog platform that enables users to create captures in categories like: text, picture, video, music, link, citation, dialog.

2008
Dropbox is created (http://www.dropbox.com), the service that enables users to share storage space on the brand’s server.
Spotify is created (http://www.spotify.com), the music service that enables users to have access to music files using customised software available for operating systems: Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.

2009
Google Docs application is created, the free online office package by Google that enables users to create and edit online documents in cooperation with other users.
Kickstarter is created (http://www.kickstarter.com/), the crowd funding website that is used for raising money for various projects.

2011
Google+ is created (https://plus.google.com), the social networking site developed by Google Inc.

2012
Felix Baumgartner performer a parachute jump from the stratosphere (about 39 km). During the free fall he exceeded the speed of sound, and theRed Bull Stratos campaign broke all records in terms of scope a reach being the most discussed marketing campaign in history.
Premiere of the operating system Windows 8 and the Surface tablet.
The Gangnam Style music video by the rapper PSY was the first in the history of YouTube to be displayed a billion times.

2013
Polish Wikipedia has reached one million articles.
Acquisition of wp.pl and dobreprogramy.pl by o2. The merger of the portals o2.pl, WP.pl and dobreprogramy.pl makes them second only to Google among Polish Internet portals in terms of reach (by Megpanel).

Sources:
1. Wikipedia;
2. Tomasz Cisek, Paweł Nowacki, E-wangeliści (One Press, Exclusive, 2012).