1957
Sputnik 1 launched The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, a shock that pushed the US into a crash program of science and defense research.
1958
ARPA founded President Eisenhower created the Advanced Research Projects Agency (later DARPA) via DoD Directive 5105.15 in response to Sputnik.
1960
Licklider publishes 'Man-Computer Symbiosis' J.C.R. Licklider's paper envisioned interactive computing and networks of computers linked by communication lines serving as shared libraries.
1961
Construction of the Berlin Wall begins Overnight on 12–13 August 1961, East German forces sealed the border around West Berlin with barbed wire, later replaced by a concrete wall, to stop mass emigration to the West.
1962
Licklider heads ARPA's IPTO J.C.R. Licklider became the first director of ARPA's Information Processing Techniques Office, funding time-sharing and interactive computing at major universities.
1963
Licklider's 'Intergalactic Computer Network' memo In a memo to colleagues, Licklider described a network of interconnected computers letting users share information across machines.
1964
Paul Baran's 'On Distributed Communications' RAND researcher Paul Baran published an eleven-volume study for the US Air Force describing a decentralized, message-block network designed to survive nuclear attack.
1966
ARPANET project launched Building on Licklider's ideas, IPTO director Bob Taylor initiated the ARPANET project to share resources between remote computers and appointed Larry Roberts as program manager.
1966
Donald Davies coins the term 'packet' At Britain's National Physical Laboratory, Donald Davies independently designed a store-and-forward packet-switching system and named its data blocks 'packets' in a June 1966 proposal.
1969
First ARPANET message sent ('LO') At 10:30 p.m., UCLA student Charley Kline tried to log in to SRI's computer; the system crashed after 'L' and 'O', making 'LO' the first message on the network. The full login succeeded about an hour later.
1971
Ray Tomlinson sends first networked email Ray Tomlinson sent the first email between two machines on ARPANET, using the @ sign to separate user from host.
1971
Kenbak-1, first commercial personal computer Designed by John Blankenbaker and sold from early 1971 for $750, the Kenbak-1 is recognized by the Computer History Museum as the world's first personal computer; fewer than 50 were built.
1971
Intel 4004 microprocessor released Intel introduced the 4004, the first commercially available microprocessor, originally built for the Busicom calculator company.
1974
Cerf and Kahn publish the TCP paper Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn published 'A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication' in IEEE Transactions on Communications, defining what became TCP/IP.
1975 – 1975
4 events, back to back 1975 Altair 8800 on the cover of Popular Electronics
1975 Homebrew Computer Club first meeting
1975 Microsoft founded
1975 Industrial Light & Magic founded
1976
Apple Computer founded Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded Apple to sell Wozniak's Apple I board.
1977 – 1977
4 events, back to back 1977 Apple II and Commodore PET debut at West Coast Computer Faire
1977 Star Wars premieres
1977 Apple II goes on sale
1977 Tandy announces the TRS-80
1981
IBM Personal Computer released IBM launched the model 5150 PC at $1,565, using an Intel 8088 and Microsoft's DOS; its open architecture became the dominant PC standard.
1983 – 1983
5 events, back to back 1983 TCP/IP 'Flag Day' on ARPANET
1983 Time names the computer 'Machine of the Year'
1983 Reagan's 'Evil Empire' speech
1983 Reagan's SDI 'Star Wars' speech
1983 Return of the Jedi released
1984
Apple Macintosh launched Apple released the Macintosh, bringing a graphical interface and mouse to the mass market.
1985
Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party; his reforms and refusal to intervene in Eastern Europe made 1989 possible.
1986
NSFNET launched The National Science Foundation funded NSFNET to connect supercomputing centers, a civilian backbone that superseded ARPANET.
1987
Reagan: 'Tear down this wall!' Speaking at the Brandenburg Gate, Reagan challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.
1989
Berners-Lee proposes the World Wide Web At CERN, Tim Berners-Lee wrote 'Information Management: A Proposal', the design that became the Web running on top of the Internet.
1989
Fall of the Berlin Wall After Günter Schabowski mistakenly announced that new travel rules took effect immediately, crowds massed at the checkpoints and guards at Bornholmer Straße opened the border shortly before midnight.
1990
ARPANET decommissioned The Cold War research network was formally shut down, its role taken over by NSFNET and the broader Internet.
1990
German reunification East and West Germany formally reunified, less than a year after the Wall opened.
1991
Dissolution of the Soviet Union The USSR formally dissolved, ending the Cold War rivalry that had funded ARPA in the first place.
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