Happy 20th birthday to World Wide Web!

World Wide Web or WWW, an embodiment of human knowledge and a network-accessible information browser, invented by then CERN scientist Tim Berners- Lee celebrated its 20th birthday on March 13, 2009.

Birth of World Wide Web

World Wide Web was born on Christmas 1990.

For many years, Tim Berners- Lee, a software consultant at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Switzerland, at his lab found it difficult to track scientists, projects and incompatible computers. Thus he worked on programs to store information with random links.

In 1989, based on one of his projects called Enquire- a program used to store connection between various people and projects at the lab, he invented a similar program. He handed the proposal to his boss in CERN. It was a short document entitled, Information Management: a proposal and was also the blueprint for World Wide Web. In 1990, Tim along with Robert Cailliau created the program and soon WWW was up and running. It was first tested in the ‘NeXT’ machine. Berners- Lee also developed the basic Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and the Universal Resource Identifier (URI or URL).

Although, internet was well known that time, accessing remote computers for stored documents required complex protocols. The invention of WWW was well accepted and the first website was built in CERN in August, 1991. The website provided an explanation about World Wide Web, how one could own a browser and how to set up a web server. In April, 1933, CERN put the web in public domain guaranteeing that the world would have only a single system for accessing the internet.

Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee
Father of World Wide Web

Born on June 8, 1955, Tim Berners- Lee attended The Queens College in Oxford. He was a computer scientist and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor who became well known after his invention of World Wide Web. Currently, he is the founder and director of the World Wide Web Consortium, an organization where member organizations work to maintain and develop the standards of the World Wide Web. The consortium has more than 500 members.
All through these 20 years, Web, as it is commonly known, has grown to become a technological marvel. It has become part of our lives. But according to Berners-Lee, Web, is still in its infancy. There are still better things to come.

The story of Brooklyn Bridge

An engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea of building a magnificent suspension bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. He had put forward his idea to the bridge building experts throughout the world but no one was interested even to think about it further and asked John to forget about it. According to them, it was a very difficult task, something, which had never been attempted before and is not practical.

Roebling however was determined and would not think of ignoring his dream. He thought about it day and night and wanted to share it with someone who would believe in his idea. John’s son Washington was a naïve engineer then. He trusted his father’s vision and believed that the bridge could be built.

John and Washington, working together for the first time, developed concepts of how the bridge could be built. A big challenge lay before them, but they were ready to face it as they had excitement and inspiration deep in their heart. They hired their crew and the construction of their dream bridge began on January 3, 1870.

The project started well, but after two years, a tragic accident at the site took John Roebling’s life. Hence, Washington took over and was in charge of the bridge. However, after few months Washington too suffered a paralyzing injury, which left him with certain amount of brain damage. He was not able to walk or talk. With no one to supervise, the construction stopped.

Everyone around the world was negative about the future of the project and felt that it should be taken off as only the Roeblings knew about the plans of construction of the bridge. These remarks hurt and shocked Washington, who lay still on the bed of his hospital. His desire and enthusiasm was still alive. He wanted to get up and continue his work, but his physical condition did not allow him to.

Washington could move only one finger and this gave him an idea. He called his wife Emily and tapped on her arm indicating her to call back the crew and the engineers. This worked well as Emily started understanding Washington’s indications by just the tapping of his finger. She conveyed his instructions to the engineers and soon the construction of the bridge was back at full swing.

For next 13 years, Washington gave instructions by tapping on Emily’s arm and she patiently decoded his messages and relayed them to the crew. The bridge was finally completed and opened with a big celebration in May 1883.

Today, the 5,989 feet Brooklyn Bridge stands over the East River as a tribute to the victory of John and Washington’s strong spirit, will power and determination. It is also a tribute to the engineers who had faith and trust in a man who was half paralyzed and was considered silly by half of the world. The bridge also reflects the love and affection of Emily towards her husband.

The story of Brooklyn Bridge portrays a very good example of having a vision, believing in it and then pursuing it with a never-say-die attitude. No matter what obstacles you face, if you have a dream then go ahead and fulfill it. Have strength of mind and be determined in life.

The names of John Roebling, Washington Roebling and Emily Warren Roebling are inscribed on the bridge as its builders.

My first day!!!

My first blog...it feels like my first day at school. The space provided here looks like my new notebook. I am not waiting for a new teacher to enter the classroom, but I am waiting to share my thoughts, my childhood memories and my experiences here. I will try my best to pen down every little instances of my life.

Hope you all will enjoy…