The first URL
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Some things you never forget. Like http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html for instance.
That was the first URL of the nascent World Wide Web, some 20 years ago. Actually, it was an alias, like Tim Berners-Lee explains himself. And being the first of its kind, it naturally had to go to some length to explain what the World Wide Web actually was.
For us, info.cern.ch quickly became our point of entry into a brave new world, a window opening our minds to a wealth of information almost unimaginable before.
That first URL was later superseded by other points of entry, like the nascent Yahoo! for instance. We all but forgot about info.cern.ch: it even went inactive for a time. But now, today, 20 years later, the first URL is active once more.
Some things you never forget. Like that small window glimmering in a pale light, opening a new world for us to explore.
And what shall never be forgot is the fact that this, all this, was free for us to take and build upon. Truly, this was (and still is) for everyone!
Thank you, timbl.
Also on Medium.
Image: Sir Tim Berners-Lee at the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony (DR).