25 Major Events That Have Happened Since The Birth Of The Internet

It’s been more than a quarter of a century since the web was invented, a whole 30 years! And the world has changed a hell of a lot since. Change is what drives our world forward and sometimes, unfortunately, backwards. Still, for 2-3 steps forward, sometimes one step backward is required. Otherwise, we don’t learn. Anyways, history has taught us a very important lesson and that is that we don’t learn from history. Well, maybe we tend to repeat history’s same mistakes, but at least, we’re trying.

From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the death of Steve Jobs and the Facebook acquisition of WhatsApp, a lot has happened. Saddam Hussein was caught and executed in a very controversial manner which led many to question our “modern world ways” and our “betterness” in comparison to the what is called “the third world”. In these 30 years since the invention of the web a lot of disasters occurred, starting with the 2001 twin towers attack, 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and the worst aviation show disaster in history. Also, good things came to be, like Nelson Mandela’s walk to freedom, the tracing of the HIV Virus or the successful cloning of human stem cells.

A lot of things happened and a lot more might happen in the years to come. We hope it’s for the better. Maybe AI will take away most of our troubles and the post-apocalyptic movies such as Terminator, were just a bit too “imaginative”. Technology is moving forward very fast, programming seems like the top occupation these days and there are also huge improvements into the DNA programming and genetics which could lead to the cure of cancer. Let’s hope we get all these right and be here to talk about the best 30 years in the history of mankind.

Now, here’s 25 things that have happened since the birth of the internet.

1989: The Berlin War Was Taken Down

The Berlin was was demolished in 1989. Citizens from both sides of the wall uses hammers and axes to smash away at the wall until nothing was left.

1990: Nelson Mandela Was Released

Nelson Mandela walked to freedom in 1990. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in 1962 after he had led a sabotage campaign against the National Party’s white-only government. He served a total of 27 years in prison.

1991: $500 million Art Heist

20 of Van Goghs works were stolen from a museum, the estimated value thought to be $500 million US dollars.

1992: The 1992 Summer Olympics In Spain

The 1992 Summer Olympics were the last competition to be staged in the same year as the Winter Olympics. Moreover, the Barcelona games were the first summer games since the end of the Cold War.

1993: Bill Clinton Becomes US President

Bill Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd President of the United States of America.

1994: US Invades Haiti

The Operation was called “Operation Uphold Democracy” and was aimed at removing the military regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d’etat

1995: Oklahoma City Bombing

On April 19, 1995, a 5,000-pound bomb, exploded just outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The explosion killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children.

1996: Saudi Arabia Mid Air Collision

Due to pilot error, on the 12th November 1996, a Kazakhstan Airlines aircraft collided in mid air with a Saudi Arabian Aircraft, killing a total of 349 people.

1997: Spacecraft Pathfinder Lands On Mars

On July 4th 1997, Pathfinder landed on Mars, making it the first successful landing since 1976.

1998: Central American Hurricane Kills 10,000

On December 3rd, 1998, a hurricane rips across Central America killing an estimated 10,000 people. Thought to be the worse storm in two centuries.

1999: HIV Virus Traced

The HIV and Aids virus was thought to have originated from the Chimpanzee.

2001: September 11th World Trade Centre Attacks

The twin towers where attacked on September 11th 2001. The total loss of life in this tragic event was almost 3000.

2002: Airshow Accident In Ukraine

On 27th July 2002, an Ukranian Air Force Sukhoi SU-27 plane crashed during an aerobatics demonstration at Sknyliv airfield, in Ukraine. 77 people were killed, 543 were injured, 100 of whom needed to be taken to the hospital for head injuries, burns and bone fractures. Both pilots survived with minor injuries. It is today known as the deadliest air show in history.

2003: Saddam Hussein Was Captured

Saddam Hussein was captured on the 13th of December 2003. He was later trialed and found guilty, which lead to his execution in 2006.

2004: Indian Ocean Earthquake And Tsunami

With a magnitude of 9.3 on the Richter scale, otherwise known as the boxing day tsunami, it killed 230,000 people and is thought to be one of the deadliest natural disaster in recorded history.

2005: London Won The Bid For the 2012 Olympics

On the 6th of July London was given the bid to host the 2012 Olympics.

2006: New Horizons Sets Of For Pluto

Launched on the 19th January 2006, Horizons sets out to study Pluto and its moons. It was the fastest man-made object ever launched from Earth

2007: Burj Khalifa Became The World Tallest Building

It currently holds the world record for tallest building, and it’s easy to see why, when it is over 828 meters tall (2,716.5 feet) and more than 160 stories high.

2008: Barack Obama Elected As U.S President

Barack Obama was elected as Americas first black president on the 5th November 2008. It was either him or the first woman president of the USA.

2009: Copenhagen Summit

The Copenhagen Summit of 2009 promised to make a major change to help prevent climate change, in reality it didn’t do this.

2010: Julian Assange Arrested

Famous for WikiLeaks, a website that published U.S. military and diplomatic documents. He has been hiding in the Unite Kingdom, inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London from 2012 to 2019. In April 2019 he was arrested in London after his asylum status had expired and faces possible extradition to US.

2011: Steve Jobs Passed Away