The World Wide Web has changed not only the way we work, shop, bank, stay in contact and entertain ourselves, but has also helped to bring down governments and kill traditional media sources. The Web celebrated its 20th birthday on Saturday; here are some of the important highlights in its development.
Aug. 6, 1991: The Web goes world wide
British scientist Tim Berners-Lee, the man responsible for developing the Web at a Geneva physics lab in 1989, posted the first links to his World Wide Web project on the alt.hypertext forum. The new enterprise was strictly text only and very limited in use.
1993: Mosaic web browser
It seems Al Gore wasn't completely off the mark when he claimed to have invented the Internet. Then-Sen. Gore began the program that funded the Mosaic graphical browser. Mosaic was a real turning point for the World Wide Web, allowing for integrated multimedia and setting the stage for the Web's meteoric expansion.
1996: Rise of the dotcoms and e-commerce
With the advent of dotcoms and e-commerce, the Web matured into a money making behemoth. Direct Internet sales companies began to sprout up all over the Web's landscape and companies began to realize that a presence on the Web was no longer optional, but a necessity to compete in the modern marketplace. Unfortunately for the dotcoms, what goes up must come down and in 2001, their bubble burst putting many out of business. The survivors, like Amazon and eBay, continue to thrive today.
January 1996: Google revolutionizes search on the Web
Google changed the way people search for information on the Internet. Existing search engines ranked results based on the number of times a search term was used on a page. But Google's user-friendly keyword based system used algorithms to rank web pages based on their relation to other websites. The pioneer in keyword based advertising, Google has become the penultimate search engine, reaching the one billion unique visitors mark in May 2011.
2002: Friendster launches social networking
Before there was MySpace or Facebook, there was Friendster. The granddaddy of social networks was originally developed as a social gaming site. Friendster allowed its users to contact other members, manage their contacts, share online content, media, photos and messages, pursue common interests with others and date via the Web. Although MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr would eventually take over the U.S. market, Friendster continues to be a major player in Southeast Asia.
2004: Howard Dean sets the stage for Barak Obama
Barak Obama did it best, but Howard Dean did it first. Dean's 2004 campaign for president raised a whole lot of money and showed the world that in addition to being a major part of the youth culture, the Web could also be a relevant political tool. Dean successfully changed the way political campaigns are financed and organized, setting the stage for Obama's successful bid for president as well as the coup in Egypt.
Nov. 11, 2007: Recognition of cyberbullying
American teen Megan Meier's suicide helped shine the light on one of the negative aspects of the Web, cyberbullying. The issue is now a major focus of child advocacy groups, schools and the media.
2006: WikiLeaks launches whistle blowing website
When WikiLeaks began publishing leaked private, secret and classified government and corporate documents, it gave a forum for those who had an axe to grind. Claiming a database of 1.2 million documents, WikiLeaks asserts it's just helping the people get the truth, but critics believe it damages national security. Either way, it has become the lightning rod for the freedom of speech debate.
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