| 1836 | The telegraph | The telegraph was the first method of sending messages across a distance via wires. The continents are still connected by wires today. |
| 1876 | The invention of the telephone | Phones use modems, and modems are the backbone of the internet today. The telephone paved the way for better communication. |
| 1957 | Sputnik is launched | Sputnik was the first satellite put into space. It is through satellites that wireless communications first became possible. |
| 1962 | Networks developed | The military came up with a way to send information in tiny packets via the satellites and cables. This kept their information safer. |
| 1969 | ARPANET | ARPANET was invented to help the government communicate within its own departments. In the beginning there were only four locations that had it. |
| 1971 | Email was invented | By 1971 there were about 15 locations that were using ARPANET. Email was invented so these locations could send messages back and forth. |
| 1972 | First large scale trial | The first large-scale displays of internet took place. They demonstrated the internet working between forty computers. |
| 1973 | Global networking takes place | The ARPANET locations in America connected with a computer in London, England. |
| 1974 | The first public internet | Telenet was the first company to market the internet to the public. They could communicate with others in the network. |
| 1979 | Discussion groups | Now that people could "talk" to others around the world, the internet discussion group was born. |
| 1983 | Other networks come into play | Other groups developed their own networks so that people now had a choice which network they would be a part of. |
| 1991 | The World Wide Web developed | Tim Berners-Lee developed the World Wide Web. Now you no longer had to be part of a network; you could connect with anyone on the web. |
| 1992 | Surfing the net | This phrase was developed by Jean Armour Polly. |
| 1996 | Internet convention | the first Internet Convention took place. |
| 1996 | Portable internet | Nokia developed a portable phone that had internet capabilities. This started the trend of small, portable devices that could connect you with people anywhere, anytime. |
