The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) today marks the 20th anniversary of the world wide web becoming a freely available technology by recreating the first ever webpage.
The world wide web, although invented in 1989 by CERN, was placed into the public domain on April 30, 1993. CERN made the software required to run a web server, as well as a basic browser and a library of code, available to the public, paving the way for the internet boom.
“There is no sector of society that has not been transformed by the invention, in a physics laboratory, of the web,” said Rolf Heuer, CERN director-general.
“From research to business and education, the web has been reshaping the way we communicate, work, innovate and live. The web is a powerful example of the way that basic research benefits humankind.”
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the free web, CERN has begun a project to recreate the first ever website – http://info.cern.ch. The website explained the basics about the web, how to set up a server, how to create a webpage, and other instructions such as how to search for information.
The world wide web was created and hosted on a NeXT computer – which at the time cost US$6,500 and was produced by a company called the NeXT Inc. which was founded by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Although the computer which was the original web server still exists, the first ever webpage is no longer online, prompting the launch of the celebratory project which hopes to restore the first ever website and secure the “digital assets that are associated with the birth of the web”.
