The internet turns 50 this month

There is not a single gray hair to be found on the world's most popular pentagenarian, the internet which turns 50 this month.

The first internet enabled home computer

Many people attribute the invention of the internet to Al Gore in the 80's, just as people erroneously think he invented global warming in the 90's. 'No single person or group invented the internet, it just happened' agree most experts.

An internet-like network was first described in the 1960's by J.C.R. Licklider. He called the worldwide connection of computers in every home the “Galactic Network”. This name did not take off because it sounded like a bunch of geeks creating their own superhero club.

His ground breaking idea was quickly laughed off as crazy talk. Back in the 60's a computer was so large that it filled half a room and only existed in universities, and the archaic 'twisted pair' phone lines, the only means of transmitting data between these colossal machines, were slow and cumbersome.

Besides, in the 60's people had real farms to tend and didn't have time to simulate them on social networking sites. The slow connections also meant it would take about 3 days to download one page of porn, increasing the likelihood of your wife/girlfriend catching you.

So, happy birthday internet, you share your big 5-0 this month with David Duchovny, the Guggenheim Museum and the birth control pill.