The First Website (info.cern.ch)

Original Publication: December 1991 | CERN, Geneva
PRESERVED & VERIFIED
Rendering: Emulated Netscape Navigator 1.0 (HTML 2.0)

The World Wide Web:


What is it? It is a vast network of information, it is a tool for communication, it is a place for collaboration.

The World Wide Web (W3) is a wide-area information server, making use of hypermedia.

It provides a consistent model for access to many kinds of information: text, voice, video, graphics and sound. It makes no assumptions about the kind of host you have, the operating system you are running, the type of connection you are using. It will work on any machine, connected to any network, running any software.


What is the World Wide Web?

How can I access it?

How can I create a home page?

Who is running it?


This server is operated by the World Wide Web project at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics near Geneva, Switzerland.

Last updated: 08/12/1991 - 10:00 AM CET
Maintained by: Tim Berners-Lee <berners-l@cern.ch>

Historical Context

This page represents the very first website ever created, developed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in 1990 and made publicly accessible in December 1991. Hosted on a NeXT computer at info.cern.ch, it served as both an introduction to the World Wide Web and a technical reference for early adopters.

The site originally contained four main sections:

  • What is the World Wide Web? - An explanation of hypertext, HTML, and HTTP
  • How can I access it? - Instructions for running early web browsers (ViolaWWW, Mosaic, Erwise)
  • How can I create a home page? - Early HTML formatting guidelines and server setup
  • Who is running it? - Information about the CERN W3 team and licensing (patent-free)

This archive preserves the original HTML structure, plaintext formatting, and hyperlink references exactly as they existed during the transition to HTML 2.0. The page was notable for its minimalist design, lack of CSS, and reliance on semantic markup and horizontal rules for visual separation.

Related Archives: W3C Charter (1994)Mosaic Browser Source (1993)RFC 1866 - HTML 2.0 (1995)