In 1969, the U.S. Defense Department founded what would eventually become the Internet. Our government placed four large computers in different locations around the country, so that all U.S. information could not be destroyed with a single hostile military maneuver.  

What began as a defensive strategy became a vehicle for sharing, retrieving, and storing information. Within twenty years, scientific organizations and educational institutions, especially colleges, used and expanded this system by sharing research information. 

In 1993, the Internet made an enormous jump forward with the invention of the graphical web browser. Since the web browser turned computer languages into backgrounds, colors, pictures, and sounds, web usage dramatically increased. People flocked to the Internet for information, deals, and long-distance communication.

As consumers typed in searches, information was sent over wires and cables along the path of least resistance. Therefore, if these paths could be viewed as highways, they would crisscross back and forth over themselves.  These imaginary lines traversing the world look like an imaginary spider’s web. From this image, the term, “World Wide Web,” was born.

At the same time that consumers rushed to explore the World Wide Web's benefits, so business hurried to find its place. In 1994, a flower shop was the first official business to enter the commercial scene and take an order.