Happy Birthday To Internet 07/01/94

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

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)