@angkorsound: History of the Internet: From Dial-Up to Digital Age | Mr. Samith The Internet is one of the greatest inventions in human history—but where did it all begin? The story starts in the 1960s, during the Cold War. The U.S. Department of Defense created ARPANET, a project designed to keep military communications connected even if part of the network was destroyed. This was the first step toward a decentralized, digital communication system. In 1971, the first email was sent. In 1983, the Internet adopted the TCP/IP protocol, which allowed different networks to connect and “talk” to each other.