1989

Voyager 2 passes Neptune. Communist rule ends in Bulgaria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Berlin Wall opened.


Video: MPEG-1 file (17MB) Tim Berners-Lee recalls a dream about the Web
  • Finland's competing Digipak and Datapak X.25 packet-switching networks start intercommunicating by order of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Communication between public networks is now considered important, not just for telephone services, but also for data.
  • Telecom Finland launches Finnish commercial IP connections by linking major companies' offices with its Datanet network. Links to the Internet were not yet on offer, as it was still not allowed to be used for commercial purposes. Some FUNET members did, however, have links to the Internet via Datanet.
  • The new Cray supercomputer also required a rapid Internet connection (Picture: Atte Rusanen / University of Helsinki)

    Video: Internet, Web, What's Next conference, CERN, Geneve, 26.6.1998