By the late 1980s, the Internet existed, but it was not the intuitive, visual, and accessible medium we know today. It was a research network filled with specialized tools, command-line interfaces, and isolated information systems. Data was available, but difficult to navigate. There was no unified way to browse documents, follow references, or share knowledge across institutions.
Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist at CERN, saw this as a structural problem. People could create information, but they could not easily move through it. His solution became the World Wide Web, a system that introduced hyperlinks, URLs, HTTP, and HTML. These inventions transformed the Internet from a technical network into a global information platform.
The problem of scattered information
CERN had thousands of researchers arriving from many countries, each bringing their own documentation systems. Berners-Lee observed that much of their knowledge was locked in unconnected databases, text files, and paper documents. Teams lost time searching for information that someone else had already organized.
Berners-Lee had experimented with hypertext systems before joining CERN. He believed hyperlinks could bridge information silos. What he needed was a way to make hypertext work across multiple computers rather than within a single system.
The 1989 proposal
In March 1989, Berners-Lee submitted a proposal titled “Information Management: A Proposal.” It described a universal information space where documents were connected through hyperlinks and accessible through a simple protocol. His supervisors were not opposed to the idea, but they did not consider it a priority. He continued refining it regardless.
The proposal contained the seeds of the web’s fundamental components:
- URLs for identifying documents
- HTTP for transferring information
- HTML for marking up documents
- A browser-editor for navigating and creating pages
Berners-Lee wrote the first web server, the first browser, and the first web page. These tools were minimal, but they proved the concept worked.
HTTP and HTML
Berners-Lee intentionally used simple ideas that could be implemented on many platforms. HTTP started as a very small protocol, handling basic requests and responses. HTML focused on describing structure rather than appearance. This simplicity helped the web spread quickly because anyone could build a browser or server without licensing or complex specifications.
By combining existing networking technologies with a hypertext model, Berners-Lee created something entirely new. It required no central control, no proprietary systems, and no specialized hardware.
Opening the world wide web
The turning point came in 1993 when CERN decided to release the World Wide Web technology into the public domain. This meant anyone could use it, modify it, or build upon it without restrictions. As soon as the web became an open standard, developers around the world began creating browsers, servers, and tools.
Mosaic, the first widely adopted graphical browser, emerged shortly after. This led to an explosion in web pages, academic sites, early online communities, and the first generation of commercial web services.
Without CERN’s decision to openly license the technology, the web might have become fragmented or locked behind proprietary systems.
The vision: an open and decentralized web
Berners-Lee did not stop after inventing the web. He continued advocating for an open and decentralized digital ecosystem. His later work included:
- Founding the World Wide Web Consortium to maintain standards
- Promoting open data and interoperability
- Developing the Solid project to shift data control back to users
He has consistently expressed concern about centralization, surveillance, and closed platforms, arguing that the web should remain a public commons.
The legacy of the modern Internet
Berners-Lee’s inventions gave the Internet structure, identity, and accessibility. The concepts he introduced, especially hyperlinks, became the way billions of people interact with information. The web turned the Internet from a specialist’s tool into a global medium for communication, education, commerce, and culture.
With the World Wide Web, Berners-Lee created an open, scalable system that continues to evolve.