The third momentous event was the invention of email in 1971. Ray Tomlinson, a computer engineer working on ARPANET, sent the first electronic message from one computer to another. This simple act revolutionized the way we communicate. This section will explore Tomlinson's groundbreaking invention and its impact on the evolution of the Internet.
The introduction of email marked a significant shift in the purpose of the Internet. It transformed the network from a tool for sharing resources among computers to a medium for human communication. This shift laid the foundation for many of the Internet's most popular applications today, including social media and instant messaging.
