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Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide Web
proposed 1989; opened to the public 1991· Innovation· Innovations & industries
Well documentedSolid records, texts or physical evidence.
British scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the web at CERN: linked pages, web addresses and a browser, running on top of the internet.
See it on the Innovation & Wealth map →What happened
In March 1989 Berners-Lee, at the CERN physics lab near Geneva, proposed linked documents to help scientists share information. By late 1990 he had written HTML, HTTP and the first browser and server. The web went public in August 1991, and on April 30, 1993 CERN released it royalty-free for anyone to use. The Mosaic browser (1993) and Netscape (1994) added pictures and point-and-click ease. Berners-Lee never patented it and did not become rich from it.
Impact on society and the economy
Because nobody owned it, anyone could publish or build a business on it; it turned the internet from a research tool into a mass medium within a few years.
Think of it like
The internet is the road network; the web is the street addresses and signs that let anyone find a storefront.
How we know
His 1989 proposal (his boss scribbled 'Vague but exciting'), CERN's 1993 release document, and the first website, restored by CERN. He was knighted and won the 2016 Turing Award.
Still debated
He now criticizes how a few platforms dominate the web and harvest data; how to fix that, and whether his decentralized vision is realistic, is argued.
Connections (2)
▸The internet was made easy to use by Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide WebWell documented
The connection
The internet reliably moved data between computers, but using it took expertise. Berners-Lee's web added clickable links, simple addresses and browsers on top of the internet's protocols, so ordinary people could find information with a mouse. Web traffic grew from almost nothing in 1993 to the internet's main use within a few years.
When and how
CERN, Geneva, 1989–91, building on the existing internet; the Mosaic browser came from the University of Illinois in 1993.
How we know
Berners-Lee's own writings and network traffic data show the web running on TCP/IP and overtaking other uses by the mid-1990s.
Debates
Whether a rival system, such as Gopher or a closed service like AOL, would have dominated without Berners-Lee's open design is a common what-if.
▸Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide Web set off Dot-com boom and bustMostly agreed
The connection
The web turned the internet into something consumers could use, and investors rushed to own the companies that might profit. Netscape's 1995 IPO showed the web's mass appeal, and hundreds of web start-ups followed, many with no profits, inflating the bubble.
When and how
US, 1993–2000; Mosaic (1993), Netscape and Yahoo! (both 1994) were early milestones.
How sure are we?
Websites grew from about 130 in mid-1993 to over 200,000 by mid-1996, and IPO records show the investor rush followed closely.
Debates
Whether the bubble came mainly from the web's real promise or from cheap money, day trading and Wall Street hype is debated.