Final answer:
The Internet originated from ARPANET in the 1960s, evolving with the development of email, hypertext, and standardized protocols. The World Wide Web emerged in the late 1980s, with key developments like the Mosaic browser in 1993, leading to the growth of internet usage and the eventual browser wars of the 1990s.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Origins and Evolution of the Internet
The Internet's inception dates back to the 1960s, with significant milestones marked by government and academic research initiatives. The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was a key precursor to the Internet, enabling information sharing between U.S. Department of Defense personnel and research universities. By the late 1960s, email became a method for personal communication among researchers using the network, setting the stage for broader digital communications. The concept of hypertext, which would later evolve into the web, was envisioned by computer scientist Ted Nelson who developed the ideas between 1965 and 1972. With the standardization of communication protocols in 1982, the network of networks known as the Internet emerged, spurring the creation of the World Wide Web in the late 1980s by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN.
By the early 1990s, the Internet had grown to host approximately thirty thousand hosts, with companies like America Online (AOL) beginning to provide online services. During this period, modems became a common household technology enabling access to the increasing wealth of information on the Internet. The development of the Mosaic browser by Marc Andreessen in 1993 significantly bolstered Tim Berners-Lee's inventions, making the web more user-friendly and accessible. Netscape Navigator emerged as a major browser until Microsoft integrated Internet Explorer with Windows 95, later leading to an antitrust case.