HTML 1.0 & 2.0

The Beginning of HTML

The World Wide Web was invented in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist working at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Berners-Lee sought to create a universal information system that would enable researchers and the public to access and share documents seamlessly across a network. His idea was to create a decentralized system using hyperlinks to navigate between pages of text, a concept that was dramatically different from the information storage and retrieval systems at the time.

To realize this vision, Berners-Lee developed three key technologies: HTML (HyperText Markup Language), HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), and URLs (Uniform Resource Locators). The introduction of HTML in 1993 marked a significant milestone, as it was the first standardized method for structuring documents on the internet. HTML 1.0 allowed users to create simple, text-based web pages linked via hypertext, laying the groundwork for the internet we know today. It supported basic elements such as headings, paragraphs, lists, and hyperlinks, but lacked advanced features like tables, images, or scripting. Despite how simple it was, HTML 1.0 caused a fast growth of websites and was crucial in popularizing the World Wide Web. Its simplicity made it easy to learn, encouraging a wide range of users to begin building their own websites.

HTML 2.0

As the web's popularity grew rapidly, the need for standardization became apparent. In 1994, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was established by Tim Berners-Lee and others to lead the web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines. One of the W3C’s first major tasks was to create a more robust version of HTML. Released in 1995, HTML 2.0 was the first standardized version officially published. This new version, built upon the foundations of HTML 1.0, standardized several key features, such as forms, tables, and the ability to include multimedia elements.

HTML 2.0 made the internet more interactive, which led to more dynamic content and a better user experience. For example, the addition of forms made online data submission much easier and eventually led to modern e-commerce and social media sites. HTML 2.0 also introduced support for input types like checkboxes, radio buttons, and text fields, which opened the door for more interactive applications. While it didn't have any advanced layout or style features, it provided a way for web developers to collect and process user information. The standardization also helped reduce inconsistencies between different browsers.