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| why-was-internet-created-1957-sputnik-launches-arpa [2026/07/02 22:26] – cynic | why-was-internet-created-1957-sputnik-launches-arpa [2026/07/02 22:29] (current) – cynic | ||
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| "The genesis of that mission and of DARPA itself dates to the launch of Sputnik in 1957, and a commitment by the United States that, from that time forward, it would be the initiator and not the victim of strategic technological surprises." | "The genesis of that mission and of DARPA itself dates to the launch of Sputnik in 1957, and a commitment by the United States that, from that time forward, it would be the initiator and not the victim of strategic technological surprises." | ||
| - | Is it ARPA or DARPA that created the ARPANET | + | ===== Is it ARPA or DARPA that created the ARPANET |
| - | Throughout | + | Throughout the history of the internet we refer to the parent of the internet as ARPA because the computer network that gave birth to the internet was the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET). Initially called the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the agency is currently called the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). |
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| + | What makes the situation more confusing is that ARPA was renamed to DARPA in March 1972, then renamed ARPA in February 1993, and then renamed DARPA again in March 1996. Regardless of the name changes ARPA has always been an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense. | ||
| ===== 1960s Ideas shaped by the Cold War ===== | ===== 1960s Ideas shaped by the Cold War ===== | ||
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| While some people still debate whether the original purpose of the internet was for the military, the internet was originally conceived by the RAND Corporation, | While some people still debate whether the original purpose of the internet was for the military, the internet was originally conceived by the RAND Corporation, | ||
| - | Why was the internet | + | ===== Why historians still debate why the Internet was created. ===== |
| Various RAND and DARPA statements connecting early Internet projects to cold war fears and the desire to survive a nuclear attack are stated on their website, not part an isolated study. | Various RAND and DARPA statements connecting early Internet projects to cold war fears and the desire to survive a nuclear attack are stated on their website, not part an isolated study. | ||
Sorry if some of the pages having missing graphics or a bookmarked page is missing. We are migrating our site over to DokuWiki from Drupal. The last major overhaul of our site was in 2016, and we were due for some freshening up.
The collection of material for the study of geek history dates back to my early days in technology as far back as the 1970s. You will find specific footnotes and references on many pages with links to current websites. Anytime a claim is made, or a fact is stated from a website or blog that does not appear to have firsthand knowledge of the subject I make a note to follow up on it. I can assure you that anything I have written is based on verification of facts from a source as close to the events and individuals as possible or multiple sources of information from leading publications or references.