On this day in 1969, the first bits of data flowed between an SDS Sigma 7 computer at UCLA and an SDS 940 computer at the Stanford Research Institute as the initial test of the concept of ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), a project of the United States Department of Defense. ARPANET was the first wide-area packet-switched network with distributed control and one of the first computer networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the technical foundation of the current Internet that we all love and hate.
The first computers were connected in 1969 and the Network Control Protocol was implemented in 1970, development of which was led by Steve Crocker at UCLA and other graduate students, including Jon Postel. The network was declared operational in 1971. Further software development enabled remote login and file transfer, which was used to provide an early form of email.
Access to the ARPANET was expanded in 1981 when the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the Computer Science Network (CSNET). In the early 1980s, the NSF funded the establishment of national supercomputing centers at several universities and provided network access and network interconnectivity with the NSFNET project in 1986. The ARPANET was formally decommissioned in 1990, after partnerships with the telecommunication and computer industry had assured private sector expansion and commercialization of an expanded worldwide network, known as the Internet.
First ARPANET log: the first message ever sent via the ARPANET, 10:30 pm PST on 29 October 1969 (6:30 UTC on 30 October 1969). This IMP Log excerpt, kept at UCLA, describes setting up a message transmission from the UCLA SDS Sigma 7 Host computer to the SRI SDS 940 Host computer
Today is the birthday, in 1946, of Rob Van Leeuwen, from the Dutch rock band Shocking Blue, who formed in The Hague in 1967. They had the 1970 US No.1 & UK No.8 single ‘Venus’ which topped the charts in nine countries and was the first song by a Dutch band to reach No. 1 on the US chart. Worldwide, the single has sold over 5 million copies. Bananarama covered ‘Venus’ in 1986, hitting No.1 in the United States, Canada, and Australia, and reaching No.8 in the UK. American rock band Nirvana recorded a cover version of the Shocking Blue song ‘Love Buzz’ for its 1988 debut single, released on Sub Pop in the USA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPEhQugz-Ew
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