What began as a small research network in the late 1960s has grown into a global system connecting billions of devices and people.
The internet's origins trace back to ARPANET, a project funded by the United States Department of Defense in 1969.
In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web while working at CERN, introducing hyperlinks and web pages.
The 1990s saw explosive growth in internet usage and commercial websites, followed by a market correction in the early 2000s.
Today, the internet connects more than 5 billion people worldwide through smartphones, broadband, and satellite technology.