See what the first website in history looks like today

In December 1990, British scientist Tim Berners-Lee introduced the world to what we now know as the World Wide Web (WWW) , a system that completely transformed the way we share information. On December 20 of that year, Berners-Lee published the first web page , hosted on the server of his own NeXT computer, located at CERN (Geneva Research Center).

Today, more than three decades later, that same page remains available to everyone , offering a window into the past of digital technology.

How was the first web page created?

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The creation of the first web page was the beginning of a global communications network and the start of a digital transformation that would forever change the way we interact with information. Tim Berners-Lee, then a researcher at CERN, devised a hypertext-based system that allowed users to access online documents through links. Although in its early days the web was merely informative, with text about how the technology worked, it laid the groundwork for what would become the future of the Internet .

Tim Berners Lee y la primera pagina web — The World Wide Web was invented by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee. Source: CERN

Unlike today’s web pages, which are loaded with images, videos and advertising, the first web page was extremely simple : a white background with text and links. There was nothing else. This simplicity, however, was key to establishing the first principles of web navigation.

The website is still available (click on the link)

Despite the advances in technology and the emergence of millions of websites over the years, that home page still functions as a historical archive . At the time, hosted on a computer at CERN, the page was completely self-referential, that is, it discussed the technical and conceptual aspects of the WWW itself. Today, any user can access the original website .

In 2022, on the occasion of International Internet Day , the Telefónica Foundation promoted a global initiative to ensure that the first website received UNESCO recognition as a World Heritage Site .

Today, the importance of that first ever web page is reflected in the very technology we use every day. Without the pioneering work done at CERN, our ability to access information instantly from any corner of the globe would probably not be possible. The Web has transformed industry, education, commerce and communications and today more than ever remains (and will continue to be) an essential tool for the exchange of information.

In fact, while the Berners-Lee website was exclusively for scientists in its early years, from 1993 CERN decided to make it public and free , a decision that allowed the expansion and democratization of Internet access.

The following video from CERN shows a brief overview of the “first www”.