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20th-century inventionsBritish inventionsCERNComputer-related introductions in 1989

World Wide Web

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

A stunning view of Earth from space, taken by astronauts during the Apollo 17 mission.

The Wonderful World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is like a magic garden of information that we can visit using our computers or tablets. It helps us find pictures, videos, stories, and games from all around the world. We call it the "Web" for short, and it makes learning and exploring fun and easy.

The Web was invented by a clever man named Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. He worked at a big science place called CERN in Switzerland. Tim wanted to make it simpler to share documents and ideas with lots of people. In 1993, he opened the Web for everyone to use, and it grew very fast!

To visit the Web, we use something called a web browser. Think of it like a friendly guide that shows us web pages. We type a special address, called a URL (uniform resource locator), into the browser, and it brings up the page we want to see. For example, you might type in wikipedia.org to learn about animals or space!

Web pages are written using a special language called HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). This helps them show beautiful pictures, fun videos, and even games. They also have hyperlinks (hyperlinks), which are like magic doors that take us to new pages with just a click. This is called web navigation or web surfing — just like flipping through channels on a TV!

Today, the World Wide Web is used by billions of people all around the globe. It helps us learn, play, and stay connected with friends and family. From watching funny cat videos to reading about dinosaurs, the Web brings endless adventures right to our screens.

A web page from Wikipedia displayed in Google Chrome

Images

This historic computer was used by Tim Berners-Lee to create the first web server. It is now displayed in a science museum, showing how the Internet began!
Diagram showing the seven key layers of the internet and important milestones in its development
Diagram showing how Wikipedia connects to the World Wide Web.
A screenshot of the Wikimedia Commons interface, showing its logo and design.
A screenshot of an official US government website about the United States Antarctic Program.
A Dell PowerEdge 850 web server, showing its inside and rear components.

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on World Wide Web, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Images from Wikimedia Commons. Tap any image to view credits and license.