Pentagon set up a research team in 1958 to create a computer network to operate during disasters
like a nuclear war. The resulting network linked U.S. scientific and academic researchers. It grew
into the World Wide Web or the Internet that became the network system of the Information Age. In
1985, the National Science Foundation created a network which provided a free national service to
any U.S. research and education institution. Later, large corporations began to build their own
networks. All those networks finally joined the Pentagon’s network to form the Internet. By the
1990s, anyone with a computer, a modern, and Internet software could link up to the Internet. In the
future, the Internet will probably grow more complex and become part of a larger network called the
information highway. With that people could bank, shop, watch TV, and perform many other
activities online.
