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Happy Birthday To Internet 07/01/94
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 1994 19:01:24 -0400
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 JUL 1 (NB) -- While hippies were off and running to Woodstock in 1969, a small group of men and women were busy creating a small network, ARPANET, named after its funding agency, the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). Twenty-five years later, participants of both events are ready to celebrate a birthday. It is unlikely that any of the founders of ARPANET had any idea their small network would one day be called Internet and have more than 20 million users. On September 10, 1994, a celebration to honor their achievements will be held in Boston, Massachusetts. A key contractor on the ARPANET project, Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN), will host The History of The Future: ARPANET, Internet and Beyond. Within its first eighteen months of operation, ARPANET was to connect ten major research facilities from three states in the US. This early network carried e-mail across different computers and in a short time connected hundreds of universities and research centers. Its packet-switching technology was a forerunner of frame, relay, and cell switching standard in asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) today. Speaking to Newsbytes, Catherine Miller, corporate communications for BBN, said, "This is a celebration and not a technology event. We really want to create an event which allows the participants to sit down, dine, enjoy special videos created for the event, and partake in the awards presentation." Newsbytes has learned that this event is "by invitation only" and more than 500 guests are expected. BBN says it has been flooded by calls for invitations and expects a number of dignitaries and politicians to attend. Ms. Miller continued, "We are doing our best to accommodate everyone we possibly can. The response here at BBN has been overwhelming." This special birthday celebration will take place in the Ballroom of the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston, Mass. A special press and media conference has been planned for the event. (Patrick McKenna/19940630/Press Contact: Joan Osleeb, Sterling Hager, tel 617-259-1512)
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