“Did you know Al Gore created the internet?” My roommate asked me, completely seriously. The only reaction my brain would compute was to laugh nervously. I don’t know where he had gotten this far-fetched idea, but it shows how little our schools are teaching about the creation of the greatest invention of the 20th century.

I explained to him that it was not one man or woman who created the internet, but more likely dozens of people working together extensively for years. It was originally funded by the Department of Defence and was called ARPANET, a near internet like hybrid that used packet switching to allow multiple computers to communicate on a single network. A couple key players such as Robert Kahn (data transmission) and Tim Berners-Lee (who invented the World Wide Web)came in and made adjustments and by the 90’s, the internet was much more recognizable a place.