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The Web is 25! What an Amazing Ride

The Web is 25! What an Amazing Ride Image

Less than a year ago, the 20th birthday of the web was declared—and now, ten months later, it’s the 25th anniversary! What’s going on here?

The 20th birthday last year was based on the day that CERN formally contributed all of the web’s technology to the public domain, April 30, 1993.

The 25th anniversary of the web today is based on the day Tim Berners-Lee submitted to his manager at CERN the proposal for the web.

Berners-Lee had a far-reaching vision from the start, but the incredible pace and diversity of the web’s 25 years of evolution is surely beyond what anyone could have anticipated.

Here’s a 25th anniversary message from Tim Berners-Lee, in which he points out that the principles that are key to the web’s value still need defending, and should not be taken for granted.

Why did the web explode?

It was not dumb luck that the web took off.

The web was founded on a principle : The ability to easily link, from any computer in the world, to information on any other computer. We have all become so accustomed to this idea that it seems obvious, but it was a radical idea when Berners-Lee proposed it 25 years ago.

The web builds, of course, on the Internet, which had been around for 20 years before the web but was difficult for non-technical people to use. The Internet’s completely decentralized structure, with no central authority or gatekeepers, was the key enabling technology that made the web possible.

The web has grown like nothing before it, thanks to a set of founding principles that created a highly fertile environment. The pervasiveness and universality of the web is truly stunning, an accomplishment by the few people who conceived the ideas that made it all possible, millions of people who have contributed to it, and billions who use it daily.

Topics: Web History

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