A brief history of

Domain Names

1985: The first .com domain

On March 15, 1985, Symbolics
Inc., a computer manufacturer in
Massachusetts, registered the
domain name Symbolics.com,
making it the first appropriately
registered .com domain in the
world. Symbolics.com remained
under the same ownership until
25 years later, in 2009, when it
was purchased for an undisclosed
sum by XF.com Investments. As it
stands today, Symbolics.com is a
strange hybrid: part-online
museum, part-advertising space.

1995: Domain name registration is no

longer free
Before 1995, anyone who wanted a
domain name could register it free of
charge. That all changed when the
National Science Foundation
awarded tech consulting company
Network Solutions the ability to
charge for registration. Domain
prices began at $100 for a two-year
registration.

1998: Privatization of the DNS and

ICANN
In 1998, the Department of Commerce,
under President Clinton's urging, issued a
proposal for privatizing the Domain
Naming System (DNS), which was then
controlled by the U.S. government. The
document known as the "Green Paper"
was created with the goal to both
increase competition in the market and
encourage more participation
internationally. Public criticism of the
proposal led to the creation of the "White
Paper," which addressed many concerns
with the original document and led to the
formation of ICANN (Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers)

2003: Truth in Domain Names Act

Incorporated into the PROTECT
Act of 2003, this piece of
legislation set a punishment for
the creators of deceptive domain
names, which lure users to a
pornographic website without
their consent. Early offenders
included "Bobthebiulder.com"
and "Teltubbies.com," both of
which led visitors to a
pornographic site called "Hanky
Panky College."

2007: Most expensive domain sale

The most expensive domain ever
sold was VacationRentals.com, which
was scooped up for the low, low
price of $35 million. What's more
interesting is that its buyer, Ben
Sharples, purchased the site
primarily to keep it out of the hands
of its competitor, Expedia. Another
high-end domain sale occurred when
ownership of the sex.com domain
was sold for a whopping $13 million
in 2010.

2012: Man registers 14,962 domains

in 24 hours
In April 2012, Mike Mann, a
domain speculator registered
nearly 15,000 domain names
in a span of 24 hours. In
explanation of his actions,he
simply said, "I'm just really
greedy. I want to own the
world."

2013: Internet runs out of four

letter .com-domains
In December 2013, WhoAPI, a
domain data analysis startup,
revealed thatevery possible
combination of four-letter .com
domain names had been
registered. From AAAA.com to
ZZZZ.com, all 456,976
combinations have been
exhausted. The threecharacter .com domains have
been used up since 1997.

2014: More than 100 new generic

top-level domains added
Generic top-level domains (gLTDs)
are recognizable to the casual web
user as the text coming at the end of
a URL .com, .org, .edu, etc.
Recently, more than 100 new gLTDs
were added, increasing the
possibilities for new websites
exponentially. Some of the new
possibilities include generic words
such as .cars and .music, as well as
company names such as .apple
and .hyundai.

Source:
http://mashable.com/2014
/03/10/domain-nameshistory/#UGp3FIPckqq8