The World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of linked documents and resources, accessed over the internet via URLs, HTTP, and HTML. It made the internet usable by everyone and became the platform for modern digital life.
Attribution — A laboratory, company, university, or public institution was the primary agent.
Tim Berners-Lee invented the Web at CERN (1989–1991) — HTTP, HTML, URLs, and the first browser and server — with Robert Cailliau as an early collaborator and champion. CERN released it royalty-free in 1993. The Web is distinct from the Internet itself, whose underlying protocols (TCP/IP) were developed earlier by Vinton Cerf, Robert Kahn, and many others.
What counts as the invention: Do not conflate the Web (Berners-Lee/CERN) with the Internet (a separate, earlier, multi-decade effort). The Web is an application built on the Internet.
Contributors
Historical impact
The Web transformed commerce, media, research, and everyday communication worldwide.
Modern relevance
This platform — and nearly every online service — runs on the open Web standards created at CERN.
Sources & further reading
Each citation names the publisher and the exact reference title.
- A short history of the WebCERN · Primary source
- World Wide Web Consortium — standards & historyW3C · Professional body
Direct source link pending editorial verification.