While each development led to others, Tim Berners-Lee's invention of the Web is what made the modern Internet possible. That and e-mail that could move from one service to another, thus becoming capable of connecting everyone.

I am not among those who mark the end of civilization as the moment when "@aol.com" e-mail addresses started to appear, but it might be fair to consider that the beginning of the mass Internet we enjoy today.

That was 1995, I believe, at the same time the old online services began providing Internet access to their users (and Java was introduced).

If you would like to learn more about the history of the Internet, is a good place to start. It has many pictures and is written for a non-technical reader.

People who want to know the inside history--the technical history--go to "" by Robert H. Zakon.