HTTP Developer’s Handbook

Brief History and Purpose of HTTP

To learn about the history of HTTP, it is appropriate to learn how the Web as we know it began. HTTP was one piece of a larger picture in the mind of a man named Tim Berners-Lee. In fact, HTTP was simply designed out of necessity to fulfill the idea of the Web.

In March of 1989, Berners-Lee submitted a proposal to CERN, Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire (European Organization for Nuclear Research), entitled, “Information Management: A Proposal.” This proposal is considered by most to represent the invention of the World Wide Web. Although the proposal focuses on the general idea rather than specifying every detail, it defines the key concepts that have since changed the perspective of the world. ...