1990

World Wide Web

Berners-Lee and Cailliau submit the formal WorldWideWeb proposal

The memo asked CERN for four software engineers and a programmer. Six weeks later, by Christmas, Berners-Lee already had a working browser/editor and the first Web server running.

12 November 1990: a memo to CERN management

On 12 November 1990, Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau sent CERN managers a memorandum titled "WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project," attaching a more detailed project plan. Unlike Berners-Lee's March 1989 document, this one carried the project name WorldWideWeb and was jointly authored.

The proposal described a common interface through which users could follow links among reports, databases, computer documentation and online help stored on otherwise incompatible systems at CERN.

Two phases, five people

It set out two implementation phases: first, connect existing servers and provide browsers; second, allow users to add new information to the system. Three months were proposed for each phase.

The staffing request was four software engineers and one programmer. Costs were given as 50k for workstations plus 30k in development expenses — the proposal does not label the currency.

What existed six weeks later

Development proceeded immediately. By Christmas 1990, Berners-Lee had implemented HTML, HTTP and URL conventions and had a browser/editor and the first Web server operating at CERN.

That first server acquired a handwritten red warning: "This machine is a server. DO NOT POWER IT DOWN!!"

"Publishes" is imprecise for this day. The document was a CERN management memorandum and project submission, not a public release comparable to CERN's 1993 public-domain announcement.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 7 sources 2 audit passes Date corrected

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet, rewritten from that sheet, then audited against it by a different model. How the pipeline works →

Date corrected. The research places this at 1990-11-12.

What the sources leave uncertain

W3C’s chronology places the proposal’s reformulation in October 1990, but the surviving memorandum and attached formal proposal are explicitly dated 12 November 1990. That documentary date is used here.
“Publishes” is imprecise: this was a CERN management memorandum and project submission, not a public release comparable to CERN’s 1993 public-domain announcement.