The document summarizes the history and development of the Internet from its origins in the late 1950s among universities to its current widespread use globally. It traces the key developments from the establishment of TCP/IP protocols in the 1970s and 1980s to enable communication across different networks, the rise of commercial internet service providers, the introduction of HTML and web browsers in the early 1990s that launched the World Wide Web, and the creation of search engines to help users navigate the growing amount of online information. The Internet is now used for a vast array of purposes from communication and research to entertainment, commerce, and personal expression.

1. The Internet and the World Wide Web