6 Most Interesting Facts from the History of Internet Domains

From the early days of ARPANET to the modern web, domains have played a key role in connecting users to websites and establishing online identities. Join us in a quick? journey through the history of Internet domains and discover the most important milestones, interesting facts and curiosities that defined this important aspect of the online world.?

In the 1960s, the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) laid the foundations for the Internet as we know it today. Initially, IP addresses were used to identify hosts, but it was the introduction of domain names via the Domain Name System (DNS) that revolutionized Internet navigation, providing a more user-friendly experience.?

As ARPANET evolved into a global network, domain names became essential to simplifying website access and improving the user experience. DNS allowed users to easily remember and type domain names instead of complex numerical addresses.?

Over the more than 60 years that have passed since the beginnings of work on the Internet, many interesting events related to Internet domains have taken place. Below are some interesting facts:?

The first domain name was nordu.net, registered in 1985 for an official DNS root server outside the United States. This milestone preceded the registration of iconic .com domains such as symbolics.com.?

Surprisingly, before 1995, domain name registration was free. Network Solutions, Inc. began charging a $100 fee for two-year registrations in 1995. This has led to a sharp increase in registrations, with over 100,000 domains now being registered per day compared to less than 15,000 between 1985 and 1992.?

.SU is the only historical country code top-level domain that is still active. It was assigned to the Soviet Union in 1990 and currently has over 100,000 active domains. Interestingly, the second country apart from Russia with the largest number of registered .SU domains is the United States.?

These are names in which the second-level domain corresponds to the first-level domain. Examples include com.com, one.one, am.am, win.win, and ch.ch. Some of them may be full-featured websites, while others are just for redirects. Some twin domains can fetch significant prices on the open market.?

It took a year to register the first ten .com domains because companies were initially not interested in the domains. Today, with over 340 million domains registered worldwide, .COM remains the most popular extension.?

To date, the title of person who has registered the most domains belongs to Mike Mann, who in April 2012 registered an impressive 14,962 domains in 24 hours using automation, for an amount of over USD 100,000.?

From their origins in ARPANET to today's expansive Internet ecosystem, domains have changed the way we access information and connect with others online.?