Internet Memorial Day

What Is Internet Day?

On November 21, 1969, a permanent link was established on ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet, between the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Stanford Research Institute. In Japan, this day is known as "Internet Day." On December 5, a four-node network was completed, with two more sites joining. The body that established the day could not be confirmed. Some Japanese sources describe the same date as the start of the ARPANET public experiment.

The First Message That Stopped at "LO"

Earlier, at 10:30 p.m. on October 29, 1969, UCLA student programmer Charley Kline tried to send the word "login" to Stanford Research Institute. The system crashed after "lo," so the first message was "LO." It was sent one letter at a time while confirming by phone. About an hour later the system recovered and the full text went through. October 29 is also called "Internet's Birthday."

The Early Internet in Japan

• 1981: Tohoku University was the first in Japan to connect to ARPANET, via ALOHAnet in Hawaii
• 1984: Jun Murai connected Keio University and the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and in October the University of Tokyo joined, starting the experimental university network "JUNET." It eventually linked more than 600 organizations
• 1993: IIJ launched its Internet connection service in November (the company was founded in December 1992)
• 1994: IIJ began its "Dial-up IP Service" in May
• 2023: according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, 86.2% of individuals used the Internet

From ARPANET to the Internet

On January 1, 1983, ARPANET switched its production operation to TCP/IP. ARPANET reached BBN on the East Coast in March 1970, and the number of nodes grew to 18 by September 1971 and 40 by September 1973. Later, in 1983, the military portion split off as MILNET, and ARPANET itself continued as a research network. Jun Murai has rejected the view that it was purely a military network, citing the funding policy behind it. JUNET ended as an experimental network in October 1991, and its domain-name allocation role passed to what became JPNIC. It is the starting point of the Internet in Japan.

Tips for Marking This Day

• Share the story that the first message was "LO" at a morning meeting or in small talk
• Talk with coworkers about when you first used the Internet
• Check whether you are reusing any passwords
• Tidy up unused accounts and old bookmarks

A Huge Network That Started With Two Letters

The first message was just two letters long. November 21 is a day to remember that today's work and daily life run on a network that grew from those two letters.