A Brief History of the Internet Quiz

Answer: UNIX

UNIX was first developed in what was knows as 'assembly' language, which restricted its use to the particular type of computer it was written on. In the early 1970s it was written in C, meaning it could now be transported more easily across different computers (and later, networks). UNIX is the precursor to many later internet-based operating systems, including Linux.

Answer: Login

These early pioneers of the internet later joked that "lo" was actually very appropriate: being short for "lo and behold". But the successful (albeit brief) connection between the computers at Stanford and UCLA heralded the shape of things to come in networking.

Answer: The @ symbol in e-mail addresses

The contents of the first e-mail ever sent remain a mystery, because Ray himself has said that he doesn't remember it, but being a test version, he most likely simply typed some simple letters such as "QWERTUYIOP".

Answer: True

The Bell 101 was one of the first modems available commercially, and was launched in 1958. With a speed of 101 bits per second, it was quickly outdated by the 103 model which could transmit at three times that speed. The SupraFAXModem 14400 was released in 1991 and became very popular due to its affordable price and high performance compared to other models.

Answer: Chicago, USA

During the 1978 Great Chicago Blizzard, Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, two keen computer hobbyists, decided to launch what they called a Computerized Bulletin Board System (CBBS). This included the ability for users to download files using a file transfer protocol system.

Answer: There were no pictures

The earliest multiplayer games were known as Multi-User Dungeon (MUD) games, and were first seen around 1979. These games typically only used text; there were no pictures or even icons to interact with. Players could play along with the game, but also chat with each other. They were typically free to use.

Answer: The Web itself

Tim Berners-Lee first proposed the World Wide Web in 1989, and began writing its code in 1990. The launch of the Web itself in 1991 was with a page about the Web, explaining to users what it was about and how to use it.

Answer: True

In 1991, researchers at Cambridge University centered the first webcam on none other than their supply of coffee so that they didn't have to make any unneccesary trips once it was empty.

Answer: Web browsers

Mosaic was released in 1993 and was considered to be one of the first browsers that made the web easily searchable by the general user (as opposed to computer experts or hobbyists). Netscape Navigator was a big rival to Mosaic released the following year.

Answer: Google

Google was launched in 1998 (the same year as Napster). Wikipedia launched in 2001, with one of the first articles being titled "transport". Myspace was one of the first social media sites, launched in 2003, closely followed by Facebook, which was first launched in 2004.