The history of domain names? If you know that, you'll get a clear idea of how the internet has developed! In the past,

there weren't domain addresses like "www.website.com" but only numeric IP addresses (e.g., 192.168.0.1).

But it's hard to remember numbers, right? That's why domain addresses started.

In the early days of the internet, in the 60s and 70s, computers were connected through a network called ARPANET. Back then, they were connected using numbers (IP addresses), but as the number of computers increased, it became too difficult to manage.

So in 1983, a person named Paul Mockapetris created the DNS (Domain Name System), establishing a system that used "text-based addresses."

The first domain name was said to be symbolics.com. It was registered on March 15, 1985, and it's still alive today! But back then, there weren't many domain names. They were mainly used by universities, research institutes, and government agencies. It was a time when ordinary people didn't even know what the internet was.

In 1991, when Tim Berners-Lee released the World Wide Web (WWW), domains became widely known. From then on, people started to obtain information through websites, and businesses began their promotions.

And in 1993, when commercial domain registration was allowed, .com became incredibly popular. Even now, .com is the most commonly used, right?

In 1998, an international organization called ICANN was established to manage the domain name system. It also manages top-level domains (TLDs) like .com, .net, and .org, and new domain names have continued to be added. For example, .info and .biz emerged in the 2000s, and nowadays, there are also .store and .app.

Now, domains are not just website addresses but have become brand identities. Short, memorable domains can be traded for millions of dollars.
And these days, new technologies like blockchain-based domains are emerging, so it seems we will be able to use them in even more diverse ways in the future.