View source for Pre-ICANN History of the DNS

{| class="wikitable"
! year !! Nontechnical events !! technical events !! consequential meetings !! key figures !! Network  !! community structure !! why does it matter? reasoning? caveats? !! sources 
|-
| 1969 || arparnet network structure is designed ||  || - || [[Howard Frank]], [[Charles Herzfeld]], [[Lawrence Roberts]] || ARPAnet || military led ||  || [https://www.britannica.com/topic/ARPANET/A-packet-of-data ARPAnet, Britannica]
|-
|  ||  || [https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1.html RFC 001] ||  || [[Steve Crocker]] ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| 1971 || The birth of email  ||  ||  || [[Ray Tomlinson]] ||  || military led, academically fullfilled  ||  || [https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=103050 A Brief History of NSF and the Internet, NSF]
|-
|  || 15 nodes and 23 host terminals in arpanet, mostly universities ||  ||  ||  ||  || military led, academically fullfilled  ||  || 
|-
| 1972 ||  || [https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc349.html numbering czar proposal]  ||  || [[Jon Postel]] (1972-1998) || ARPAnet || military led, academically fullfilled  || birth of DNS || [https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2013/11/history-internet-and-colleges-built-it The History of the Internet and the Colleges That Built It, EdTech]
|-
| 1983 || [[IAB]] formed to run [[IETF]] & [[IRTF]]  ||  || - || [[Steve Crocker]], [[Barry Leiner]], [[Ken Harrenstien]], [[Vic White]]  || ARPAnet || military led, academically fullfilled  || standardization of Internet's fundamental protocols: 1983-1994 || [https://www.internetsociety.org/ianatimeline/ History of IANA, ISOC]
|-
|  ||  || [[TCP/IP]] becomes the new standard protocol suite for the ARPANET  ||  || [[Vint Cerf]], [[Robert Kahn]] ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
|  ||  || standardization of [[Whois]] ||  || [[Elizabeth Feinler]] ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| 1984 ||  || [[WIDE Project|Japanese University Network]] || - || [[Jun Murai]] || ARPAnet || military, academically fullfilled  || - || [https://archive.icann.org/en/udrp/staff-report-29sept99.htm UDRP, ICANN Archives]
|-
|  ||  || IAB Task Forces created ||  || [[Dave Mills]], [[Bob Braden]], [[Bob Thomas]], [[Steve Kent]], [[Ray McFarland]], [[Rob Cole]], [[Jim Mathis]], [[David Clark]], [[Dave Hartman]], [[Ed Cain]] ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| 1986 || - || the NSF created NSFNET || - || [[Dennis Jennings]] || NSFnet  ||  || no longer just for the military; early adopters and technophiles go online || [https://www.icann.org/en/history/early-days Early Days, ICANN History Project]
|-
| 1987 || the “network of networks" is now commonly called the "[[Internet]]" ||  || - || [[Paul Mockapetris]] || NSFnet ||  || - || [https://icannwiki.org/ICANN_Historical_Timeline ICANN Historical Timeline, ICANNWiki]
|-
|  ||  || networks in the Americas, Europe, and Asia join TCP/IP backbone ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
|  ||  || [[RFC 1035]], [[RFC 1034]];  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
|  || NSFNET exceeds ARPANET ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| 1988 || The term “[[IANA]]” officially used in [[RFC 1083]] || - || - || [[Joyce Reynolds]] || NSFnet ||  || - || [https://www.icann.org/es/announcements/details/release-internet-technical-leaders-welcome-iana-globalization-progress-14-3-2014-en Technical Leaders Welcome IANA Globalization Progress, ICANN Announcements]
|-
| 1990 ||  ||  ||  ||  || nsfnet || end of mainly military users ||  || [https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/idns-where-are-we-now-16jun21-en.pdf IDNs: Where are we now, ICANN]
|-
| 1991 || the launch of the [[W3|World Wide Web]] || - || - || [[Tim Berners-Lee]], [[Steve Goldstein]] (1991-2003) || nsfnet || mainly academic: 1991-1995 || - || [https://www.icann.org/resources/accountability Accountability, ICANN]
|-
| 1992 || NSF allows/protects commercial traffic with "Acceptable Use Policy"  || - || - || [[Susan Estrada]] || NSFnet  ||  || - || [https://www.iab.org/about/history/ History, IAB]
|-
|  || [[ISOC]] is founded ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| 1993 || [[Network Solutions]] enters into a five-year contract with the NSF ||  || - || [[Marilyn Cade]] (1993-2020); [[Marc Andreessen]] || Network Solutions era: the sole domain name registrar for [[.com]], [[.net]], and [[.org]] (1993-1998) || Transition to Private || interent becomes a legitimate public sphere || -
|-
| 1994 || China goes online ||  || - || [[Hualin Qian]] || Network Solutions era: the sole domain name registrar for [[.com]], [[.net]], and [[.org]] (1993-1998) || Transition to Private || - || -
|-
|  ||  || [[RFC 1591]] ||  || Postel ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
|  ||  || [[NANOG]] founded ||  || [[Elise Gerich]], [[Mark Knopper]], [[Bill Norton]], [[Craig Labovitz]], [[Susan Harris]] ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| 1995 || NSF awarded contracts to three network access points || - || - ||  || Network Solutions era: the sole domain name registrar for [[.com]], [[.net]], and [[.org]] (1993-1998) || Transition to Private || - || -
|-
|  || The first publicly available internet service in India was launched by state-owned VSNL ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
|  || Africa goes online ||  ||  || [[Nii Quaynor]] ||  ||  ||  || [https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Acad_Research/it_hagener.html Internet in Africa, UPENN African Studies Center, 24 March 1996]
|-
|  || [[Amazon]] is launched ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| 1996 ||  [[IAHC|International Ad-Hoc Committee]] formed || - || - || [[Don Heath]], [[Sally Abel]], [[Albert Tramposch]], [[David Maher]], [[Jun Murai]], [[Geoff Huston]], [[Hank Nussbacher]]; [[Robert Shaw]], [[Perry Metzger]], [[Dave Crocker]], [[George Strawn]] || IAHC || The dawn of [[Internet Governance]], transition to private || - || 
|-
|  || [[HughesNet]] begins offering satellite Internet commercially ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|}