UCLA Introduced the ARPANET Concept to the Public (1969)

On this day, UCLA’s Office of Public Information issued a press release titled:

“UCLA TO BE FIRST STATION IN NATIONWIDE COMPUTER NETWORK.”

The announcement explained that:

• UCLA would become the first node of the new network;
• the network would connect computers from different manufacturers and with different architectures;
• the project was funded by ARPA;
• the first phase of the network would become operational in the fall of 1969, linking UCLA, Stanford Research Institute, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah;
• in the future, the network could grow into a large-scale communications system.

Particularly remarkable was a statement by Professor Leonard Kleinrock, which turned out to be remarkably prophetic:

“As of now, computer networks are still in their infancy, but as they grow up and become more sophisticated, we will probably see the spread of ‘computer utilities’ which, like present electric and telephone utilities, will service individual homes and offices across the country.”

Kleinrock later wrote that this press release was effectively the first public announcement of the coming Internet, even though it attracted very little attention at the time.

July 3, 1969 was not the day ARPANET went live. Instead, it marked the first official public announcement of the network’s creation. Since ARPANET became the direct predecessor of today’s Internet, this announcement represents an important milestone in Internet history.

Sources

• The Forgotten Press Release That Announced the Birth of the Internet (Paleofuture)
• Leonard Kleinrock — The Internet Rules of Engagement Then and Now (PDF)

See also BitTorrent Protocol Was Introduced (2001).