NeXTcube, the First Web Server
The NeXT computer at CERN where Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first web browser and ran the first web server.
In 1989 Tim Berners-Lee proposed a system of linked documents at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva. In 1990 he used a NeXT computer to write the first browser, called WorldWideWeb, and the first web server software. The server went online in late 1990.
A handwritten label on the machine read, 'This machine is a server. DO NOT POWER IT DOWN!!' On April 30, 1993, CERN released the web technology into the public domain, which let anyone use it without paying a fee.
Why it matters
The first web server was an ordinary workstation running new software. The open release of the web technology allowed it to grow into the platform used by billions of people.
Key facts
- Berners-Lee proposed the web in 1989.
- The first server went online in late 1990.
- A handwritten sign warned not to turn it off.
- CERN made the web technology free in April 1993.
Sources
- Campbell-Kelly, Martin, and William Aspray, et al. Computer: A History of the Information Machine. 3rd ed. Westview Press, 2013.
- Berners-Lee, Tim, with Mark Fischetti. Weaving the Web. HarperSanFrancisco, 1999.
- CERN, "The birth of the Web" (home.cern/science/computing/birth-web).