The internet, since its inception back in 1983, has become an integral part of our daily lives. So much, so that life without internet is almost unthinkable. Despite using it multiple times in a day, most people are unaware of certain staggering facts about the internet. Here’s your chance to update your knowledge about the global inter-connectivity.
Fact #1: January 1: The official birthday of your beloved internet
If you’re unaware, the internet does have an official birthday. And, that is January 1, 1983. So, on January 1, 2021, it will be 38 years old, officially. It was around the 1980s and late 1970s that internet was getting standardized.
Prior to this different form of inter-networking systems like ARPANET, NPL Network existed, but they were not standardized. On January 1, 1983, ARPANET adopted the TCP/IP standardization protocol. Without this standardization, the internet wouldn’t have been the one we’re experiencing today.
Fact #2: Internet was Initially Restricted for Commercial Purposes
In its early days, internet was focused only for defense and academic purposes to send information back and forth. The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) NSFNET and ARPANET regulated internet usage. It was only after they decommission did internet was allowed to carry commercial traffic.
Fact #3: The whole of internet weighs two ounces
If you were to put the whole of internet on a weighing machine, it would read two ounces or even less. You can get this by using Einstein’s equation of E=mc2. E is the energy which is the total energy powering the internet, which is about 40 Giga Watts. C is the speed of light. With this, you can calculate m.
Fact #4: Symbolics.com was the First Registered Domain
Symbolics used to be a company in the field of computer systems in Cambridge. It registered Symbolics.com to make its presence felt on the internet. But, it wasn’t the first domain that was created. Nordu.net was the first one and it was a research website is Scandinavia.
Fact #5: The internet you use is only 1/500th
If you’ve been using Google or Bing to access the internet all along, then you’re only using 1/500th of the internet. The total internet goes much beyond that, and the hidden part is what we call “Deep Web”. These websites and portals are deemed unsafe for regular internet users, hence hidden.
Fact #6: The first-ever email was sent and received by the same person.
The first sender, who also happens to be the first recipient, of the email was Ray Tomlinson. An MIT graduate and electrical engineer by profession, he was worked at ARPANET.
Email was his side project as he wanted two computers to exchange messages between them. That’s how he invented SNDMSG and sent a message to himself at another computer.
Fact #7: Internet Outages Cost Companies Millions
If the internet goes off at your home, you’ll not be bothered too much. However, the companies will get nightmares if it happens with them. As per estimates, server and internet outages cost companies as huge a sum as $740,357! Another estimate suggests, UK businesses incurred £12 in total for internet outages.
The internet is continuously growing and expected to accelerate. As we move into the future, internet will definitely make our lives even easier.
