Pre-1970s
1945: Vannevar Bush describes the first hypertext system in “As We May Think” (the Memex) in The Atlantic Monthly
1946: ENIAC, the first general purpose computer, revealed to the public
1953: Harley Tillet implements the first online information retrieval system for the U.S. Navy
1962: John Horty demonstrates early legal retrieval service at University of Pittsburgh
1967: Ohio State Bar contracts with Data Corporation in 1967 to develop a full text retrieval system
1969: CompuServe founded as Compu-Serv Network, setting the stage for consumer online services
1970s
1970: Mead Data Central created by Don Wilson; leads to LexisNexis
1970: Xerox Parc founded; leads to Alto PC (1973), graphical user interface (GUI), WYSIWYG text editing, laser printing
1973: HBO founded, portending mainstream adoption of cable television
1975: Microsoft is founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen
1976: Broadcast Teletext introduced in England as Ceefax Service
1977: Apple II released
1977: Warner Communications launches QUBE, the first interactive cable service
1979: Broadcast company reach is at its pinnacle in the United States
1979: U.K. Post Office introduces Prestel videotex service
1980s
1980: CNN launches
1981: IBM PC launches with MS-DOS and Intel 8088 processor
1981: Four major New York banks begin “home banking” experiments
1982: USA Today debuts as a national newspaper
1982: The Weather Channel launches
1983: Knight Ridder launches Viewtron
1983: Short-lived Time Teletext experiment launches
1983: Motorola DynaTAC 8000x, the first commercial cell phone, debuts
1985: Quantum Computing (later AOL) founded
1985: The WELL founded by Stewart Brand and Larry Brilliant
1985: MIT Media Lab evolves out of Architecture Machine Group
1986: Newspaper videotex experiments (Viewtron, Gateway, others) fade away
1989: Tim Berners-Lee writes proposal for World Wide Web
1990s
1992: America Online has its IPO
1993: Mosaic browser catalyzes the World Wide Web, Nando.net founded
1994: Yahoo, Netscape, Monster, Amazon, Hotwired, Pathfinder all launched
1995: DoubleClick, Craigslist founded
1995: Netscape IPO
1995: CNN.com, NYTimes.com, and WSJ.com (subscription required) launch
1995: CareerBuilder launches as NetStart
1996: Fox News and MSNBC launch
1997: Classified Ventures launches
1998: Two Stanford students found Google
1999: Pyra Labs launches Blogger
1999: Times Company announces New York Times Digital IPO
2000s
2000: AOL acquires Time Warner as new decade dawns
2000: The dot-com bust; traditional media retreats
2001: AOL Time Warner merger flops; CEO Gerald M. Levin resigns
2001: Apple introduces iTunes
2002: Google News founded
2003: LinkedIn launched
2004: Google IPO, Facebook and Digg launch
2004: Tim O’Reilly describes “Web 2.0”
2004: Dow Jones buys MarketWatch
2005: Huffington Post and YouTube launch
2005: News Corp. buys MySpace; NYT Co. buys About.com
2006: Twitter, BuzzFeed launch; Google acquires YouTube
2006: McClatchy acquires Knight Ridder for $3.3 billion
2007: News Corp. acquires Dow Jones for $5.6 billion
2007: Sam Zell acquires Tribune Company for $8.2 billion; declares bankruptcy in 2008
2007: Politico founded; Google acquires DoubleClick; Tumblr launches
2007: iPhone debuts, launching the era of apps
2008: CBS buys CNET Networks
2008: Financial collapse and recession send print media companies reeling
2009: Steve Brill and Gordon Crovitz start Journalism Online (now Press+) to enable digital subscriptions
2010s
2010: iPad launches in April
2010: Instagram, Pinterest, Flipboard launch
2011: AOL acquires The Huffington Post
2011: The New York Times’ metered model launches
2011: LinkedIn IPO
2011: News Corp. sells MySpace
2012: New York Times Co. sells About.com
2012: Facebook IPO and acquires Instagram
2013: LinkedIn acquires Pulse news aggregator
2013: Yahoo buys Tumblr for $1.1 billion
2013: New York Times Co. sells The Boston Globe for $70 million
2013: Jeff Bezos buys The Washington Post for $250 million
2014: Facebook acquires WhatsApp for $19 billion
2014: Time Inc. goes public as separate publishing company
2014: Tribune Publishing takes newspaper division public
2015: Millennial news site Elite Daily is acquired by the Daily Mail
2015: Vice closes $400 million deal to provide news content to HBO
2015: Apple Watch launches
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