Explore a subject through time

Internet & Gaming timeline

The web, creators, platforms and video games.

38 moments in QuoAnno

The World Wide Web is proposed at CERN, representing the Internet & Gaming timeline
The World Wide Web is proposed at CERN · 1989 AD

Reading the timeline

A wider chronology

The internet and the World Wide Web are related but distinct histories. Networks, protocols and research systems made global communication possible; the web added a widely usable way to publish and connect documents. Commercial services and social platforms then changed how people searched, shared and created online.

Video games developed alongside this networked world through arcades, home hardware, personal computers and online communities. Dates often mark a first message, public proposal, launch or release, while the cultural effect unfolds over years.

What this category covers

Themes to follow

01

Networks and protocols

Infrastructure and shared standards that allowed computers to communicate.

02

The open web

Documents, browsers and publishing tools connected through links and common standards.

03

Games and platforms

Hardware, software and distribution systems that shaped interactive entertainment.

04

Online culture

Communities, creators and services that changed participation and public media.

Across the category

Timeline highlights

8 selected moments
  1. Spacewar! is created

    Spacewar! spread to other research computers and inspired later game designers.

  2. Super Mario Bros. is released in Japan

    The game became one of the most influential titles in console history.

  3. The World Wide Web is proposed at CERN

    Tim Berners-Lee’s proposal led to the first web server and browser.

  4. Doom is released

    Doom popularized networked deathmatch play and modding culture.

  5. Hotmail launches as a webmail service

    Outlook.com, formerly Hotmail, is a free personal email service offered by Microsoft.

  6. Valve launches Steam

    Steam is a digital distribution platform for PC games by the American video game studio Valve.

  7. The first video is uploaded to YouTube

    The video was uploaded by YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim.

  8. Oldest publicly available PewDiePie video is uploaded

    The video “Minecraft Multiplayer Fun” was published on 2 October 2010. His actual first upload on the channel was deleted, so this question deliberately asks for the oldest publicly available video.

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Further reading

These independent reference works and institutions provide broader context. QuoAnno links to them for further reading; the summaries on this page are original and are not copied from those sources.

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