The World Wide Web came into being in 1991, thanks to developer Tim Berners-Lee and others at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, also known as Conseil Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN).  The CERN team created the protocol based on hypertext that makes it possible to connect content on the Web with hyperlinks.  Berners-Lee now directs the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a group of industry and university representatives that oversees the standards of Web technology.

Early on, the Internet was limited to noncommercial uses because its backbone was provided largely by the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Department of Energy, and funding came from the government.  But as independent networks began to spring up, users could access commercial Web sites without using the government-funded network.  By the end of 1992, the first commercial online service provider, Delphi, offered full Internet access to its subscribers, and several other providers followed.

In June 1993, the Web boasted just 130 sites.  By a year later, the number had risen to nearly 3,000.  As of April 1998, there were more than 2.2 million sites on the Web.

Find out more about CERN.

Learn about the World Wide Web Consortium.

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Copyright © 2001 Introduction to the Internet
Last modified: August 29, 2001