DNS Timeline

The timeline covers the development of the Internet's Domain Name System from the inception of the ARPANET in 1969 to the present day. It is a work-in-progress, so if you have any additions or corrections, please contact us (link to contact form).

Prehistory

29th October 1969 – First ARPANET message sent between UCLA and SRI.
21st November 1969 – First permanent ARPANET link established.
5th December 1969 – Four node ARPANET established.
23rd December 1969 - Jon Postel starts work at UCLA as Postgraduate Research Engineer (I)
March 1970 – ARPANET reaches US East Coast.
20-September-1971: "Standardization of host mnemonics", Karp. P (RFC226) published. Introduces standardised naming of ARPAnet hosts.
1972 - Network Information Centre (NIC) established by Elizabeth Feinler at Stanford University to co-ordinate host addresses.
1973 – Norway connects to the ARPANET
1973 - UK (UCL) connects to ARPANET.
22nd June 1973 - Arpawocky, Merryman, R. (RFC527) published; contains references to NIC.
24th August 1973 - Postel leaves UCLA for MITRE.
1975 – ARPANET declared operational.¹
1975 – ARPANET transferred from DoD ARPA agency to DoD DCA agency.²
March 1977 – Postel joins USC-ISI as Assistant Professor
September 1981 – Internet Domain Names, Mills, D. L. (RFC799) published.
August 1982 "The Domain Naming Convention for Internet User Applications", Postel, J. & Su, Z.S. (RFC819) published.

1983-1990

1983: ARPANET splits into MILNET (Military) and civilian (Internet) networks.

November 1983 – The Domain Names Plan and Schedule, Postel, J. (RFC 881) published.
November 1983 – Domain Name - Concepts and Facilities, Mockapetris, P. (RFC 882) published.
1983 – First ever top-level domain, .ARPA created.³
October 1984 – Domain Requirements, Postel, J. & Reynolds, J. (RFC920) published.
15th February 1985 – .US created.⁴
24th July 1985 – .GB created.⁵
24th July 1985 – .UK created.⁶
24th October 1985 – .IL created.⁷
5th March 1986 – .AU created.⁸
25th April 1986 – .NL created.⁹
5th August 1986 – .JP created.¹⁰
2nd September 1986 – .FR created.¹¹
4th September 1986 – .SE created.¹²
29th September 1986 – .KR created.¹³
5th November 1986 – .DE created.¹⁴
17th December 1986 – .FI created.¹⁵
19th January 1987 – .NZ created.¹⁶
17th March 1987 – .NO created.¹⁷
14th May 1987 – .CA created.¹⁸
20th May 1987 – .CH created.¹⁹
8th June 1987 – .MY created.²⁰
14th July 1987 – .DK created.²¹
23rd September 1987 – .AR created.²²
November 1987 - "Domain Administrators Guide", Stahl, M. (RFC1032) published; guidance on domains registered with the DDN NIC at SRI.
18th November 1987 – .IS created.²³
23tf December 1987 – .IT created.²⁴
20th January 1988 – .AT created.²⁵
27th January 1988 – .IE created.²⁶
14th April 1988 – .ES created.²⁷
30th June 1988 – .PT created.²⁸
5th August 1988 – .BE created.²⁹
7th September 1988 – .TH created.³⁰
19th October 1988 – .SG created.³¹
1st February 1989 – .MX created.³²
19th February 1989 – .GR created.³³
18th April 1989 – .BR created.³⁴
8th May 1989 – .IN created.³⁵
31st July 1989 – .TW created.³⁶
27th August 1989 – .PR created.³⁷
September 1989 - The Internet Activities Board, Cerf, V. (RFC 1120) published.
13th October 1989 – .NI created.³⁸

1990 to 2000

3rd January 1990 - .HK created.³⁹
15th June 1990 - .LK created.⁴⁰
30th July 1990 - .PL created.⁴¹
August 1990 Responsibilities of Host and Network Managers, Van Bokkelen. J. (RFC1173) published.
August 1990 IAB Recommended Policy on Distributing Internet Identifier Assignment, Cerf, V. (RFC1174) published.
August 1990 What is the IANA?, Malkin, J., Marine, A., Reynolds J. (RFC1177) published.
August 1990 Choosing a Name for Your Computer, Libes, D. (RFC1178) published.
10th September 1990 - .CR created.⁴²
10th September 1990 - .UY created.⁴³
14th September 1990 - .PH created.⁴⁴
17th September 1990 - .TR created.⁴⁵
19t September 1990 - .SU created.⁴⁶
7th November 1990 - .HU created.⁴⁷
7th November 1990 - .ZA created.⁴⁸
28th November 1990 - .CN created.⁴⁹
30th November 1990 - .EG created.⁵⁰
1st February 1991 - .EC created.⁵¹
26th February 1991 - .BO created.⁵²
7th March 1991 - .VE created.⁵³
8th May 1991 - .NA created.⁵⁴
17th May 1991 - .TN created.⁵⁵
25th August 1991 - .DO created.⁵⁶
3rd September 1991 - .AG created.⁵⁷
3rd September 1991 - .BB created.⁵⁸
3rd September 1991 - .BS created.⁵⁹
3rd September 1991 - .BZ created.⁶⁰
3rd September 1991 - .DM created.⁶¹
3rd September 1991 - .KN created.⁶²
3rd September 1991 - .LC created.⁶³
3rd September 1991 - .SR created.⁶⁴
3rd September 1991 - .TT created.⁶⁵
3rd September 1991 - .VC created.⁶⁶
9th September 1991 - .PY created.⁶⁷
24th September 1991 - .JM created.⁶⁸
26th September 1991 - .PG created.⁶⁹
6th November 1991 - .ZW created.⁷⁰
25th November 1991 - .PE created.⁷¹
24th December 1991 - .CO created.⁷²
26th February 1992 - .AQ created.⁷³
19th March 1992 - National Science Foundation issues solicitation for domain registration services manager (NIC) ⁷⁴
1st April 1992 - .SI created.⁷⁵
21st April 1992 - .AL created.⁷⁶
3rd June 1992 - .CU created.⁷⁷
3rd June 1992 - .EE created.⁷⁸
3rd June 1992 - .FJ created.⁷⁹
3rd June 1992 - .GD created.⁸⁰
3rd June 1992 - .LT created.⁸¹
3rd June 1992 - .PK created.⁸²
August 1992 - Privacy and Accuracy Issues in Network Information Center Databases, Curran, J. & Marine, A. (RFC1355) published.
14th August 1992 - .GT created.⁸³
4th September 1992 - .MZ created.⁸⁴
17th September 1992 - .MO created.⁸⁵
26th October 1992 - .KW created.⁸⁶
1st December 1992 - .AE created.⁸⁷
1st December 1992 - .UA created.⁸⁸
2nd December 1992 - .GE created.⁸⁹
2nd December 1992 - .MT created.⁹⁰
1st January 1993 - First Cooperative Agreement between National Science Foundation and Network Solutions Inc. (NCR-9218742)
13th January 1993 - .CZ created.⁹¹
13th January 1993 - .LS created.⁹²
26th February 1993 - .LI created.⁹³
26th February 1993 - .RO created.⁹⁴
27th February 1993 - .HR created.⁹⁵
27th February 1993 - .ID created.⁹⁶
19th March 1993 - .BW created.⁹⁷
19th March 1993 - .SN created.⁹⁸
29th March 1993 - .BF created.⁹⁹
29th March 1993 - .SK created.¹⁰⁰
31st March 1993 - .BM created.¹⁰¹
16th April 1993 - .HN created.¹⁰²
29th April 1993 - .KE created.¹⁰³
29th April 1993 - .LV created.¹⁰⁴
14th May 1993 - .FO created.¹⁰⁵
19th July 1993 - .SZ created.¹⁰⁶
25th August 1993 - .AZ created.¹⁰⁷
25th August 1993 - .LB created.¹⁰⁸
9th September 1993 - .AN created.¹⁰⁹
23rd September 1993 - .MK created.¹¹⁰
29th September 1993 - .ML created.¹¹¹
13th October 1993 - .NC created.¹¹²
26th November 1993 - .MA created.¹¹³
3rd January 1994 - .DZ created.¹¹⁴
1st February 1994 - .BH created.¹¹⁵
1st March 1994 – Domain Name System Structure and Delegation, Postel, J. (RFC1591) published.
24th March 1994 - .MD created.¹¹⁶
25th March 1994 - .ZM created.¹¹⁷
1st April 1994 - Amendment 1 to Cooperative Agreement
6th April 1994 - .IR created.¹¹⁸
7th April 1994 - .RU created.¹¹⁹
8th April 1994 - .GL created.¹²⁰
14th April 1994 - .VN created.¹²¹
15th April 1994 - .GU created.¹²²
19th April 1994 - .SB created.¹²³
10th May 1994 - .BY created.¹²⁴
17th May 1994 - .SQ created.¹²⁵
25th May 1994 - .PA created.¹²⁶
3rd June 1994 - .BN created.¹²⁷
26th July 1994 - .CY created.¹²⁸
9th August 1994 - .GN created.¹²⁹
26th August 1994 - .AM created.¹³⁰
13th September 1994 - .GY created.¹³¹
19th September 1994 - .KZ created.¹³²
4th November 1994 - .SV created.¹³³
23rd November 1994 - .JO created.¹³⁴
12th December 1994 - .GA created.¹³⁵
January 1995 - Amendment 2 to Cooperative Agreement
3rd January 1995 - .BG created.¹³⁶
19th January 1995 - .GH created.¹³⁷
20th January 1995 - .MC created.¹³⁸
25th January 1995 - .NP created.¹³⁹
27th January 1995 - .CL created.¹⁴⁰
27th January 1995 - .LU created.¹⁴¹
14th February 1995 - .CI created.¹⁴²
16th February 1995 - .AI created.¹⁴³
2nd March 1995 - .MN created.¹⁴⁴
8th March 1995 - .UG created.¹⁴⁵
15th March 1995 - .NG created.¹⁴⁶
April 1995 - Amendment 3 to Cooperative Agreement
10th April 1995 - .VU created.¹⁴⁷
19th April 1995 - .FM created.¹⁴⁸
19th April 1995 - .KI created.¹⁴⁹
29th April 1995 - .CM created.¹⁵⁰
29th April 1995 - .UZ created.¹⁵¹
3rd May 1995 - .KY created.¹⁵²
12th July 1995 - .KG created.¹⁵³
14th July 1995 - .TZ created.¹⁵⁴
14th July 1995 - .WS created.¹⁵⁵
25th July 1995 - .MG created.¹⁵⁶
8th August 1995 - .CK created.¹⁵⁷
16th August 1995 - .SM created.¹⁵⁸
31st August 1995 - .VI created.¹⁵⁹
11th September 1995 - .VA created.¹⁶⁰
13th September 1995 - Amendment 4 to Cooperative Agreement
6th October 95 - .MU created.¹⁶¹
15th October 95 - .ET created.¹⁶²
15th November 1995 - .AO created.¹⁶³
5th December 1995 - .GI created.¹⁶⁴
18th December 1995 - .TO created.¹⁶⁵
9th January 1996 - .AD created.¹⁶⁶
18th January 1996 - .BJ created.¹⁶⁷
20th February 1996 - .AW created.¹⁶⁸
20th February 1996 - .KH created.¹⁶⁹
20th February 1996 - .SY created.¹⁷⁰
18th March 1996 - .NF created.¹⁷¹
18th March 1996 - .TV created.¹⁷²
19th March 1996 - .PF created.¹⁷³
11th April 1996 - .OM created.¹⁷⁴
24th April 1996 - .CF created.¹⁷⁵
24th April 1996 - .MR created.¹⁷⁶
24th April 1996 - .NE created.¹⁷⁷
14th May 1996 - .LA created.¹⁷⁸
22nd May 1996 - .DJ created.¹⁷⁹
12t June 1996 - .QA created.¹⁸⁰
25th hJuly 1996 - .GF created.¹⁸¹
7th August 1996 - .GG created.¹⁸²
8th August 1996 - .JE created.¹⁸³
14th August 1996 - .BA created.¹⁸⁴
16th August 1996 - .MH created.¹⁸⁵
19th August 1996 - .YE created.¹⁸⁶
5th September 1996 - .TG created.¹⁸⁷
11th September 1996 - .IM created.¹⁸⁸
24th September 1996 - .ER created.¹⁸⁹
25th September 1996 - .MV created.¹⁹⁰
21st October 1996 - .BI created.¹⁹¹
21st October 1996 - .CV created.¹⁹²
21st October 1996 - .GP created.¹⁹³
21st October 1996 - .RE created.¹⁹⁴
22nd October 1996 - .MP created.¹⁹⁵
3rd January 1997 - .MW created.¹⁹⁶
6th January 1997 - Amendment 5 to Cooperative Agreement
14th January 1997 - .CG created.¹⁹⁷
27th January 1997 - .TC created.¹⁹⁸
4th February 1997 - .GW created.¹⁹⁹
4th February 1997 - .MM created.²⁰⁰
20th February 1997 - .VG created.²⁰¹
6th March 1997 - .HT created.²⁰²
6th March 1997 - .MS created.²⁰³
6th March 1997 - .SD created.²⁰⁴
26th March 1997 - .FK created.²⁰⁵
28th March 1997 - .GM created.²⁰⁶
28th March 1997 - .MQ created.²⁰⁷
7th April 1997 - .RE created.²⁰⁸
9th April 1997 - .LR created.²⁰⁹
23rd April 1997 - .LY created.²¹⁰
24th April 1997 - .CX created.²¹¹
9th May 1997 - .IQ created.²¹²
9th May 1997 - .SC created.²¹³
9th May 1997 - .SL created.²¹⁴
9th May 1997 - .TP created.²¹⁵
30 May 1997 - .TM created.²¹⁶
12th June 1997 - .AS created.²¹⁷
12th June 1997 - .PW created.²¹⁸
June 1997 * 13th September 1995 - Amendment 6to Cooperative Agreement
20 June 1997 - .NU created.²¹⁹
10 July 1997 - .GQ created.²²⁰
10 July 1997 - .PN created.²²¹
1 July 1997: President W J Clinton issues Framework for Global Electronic Commerce; directs the Secretary of Commerce to privatize the management of the domain name system ("DNS") in a manner that increases competition and facilitates international participation in its management.²²²
16th July 1997 - .BT created.²²³
24 July 1997 - .HM created.²²⁴
31st July 1997 - .GS created.²²⁵
20 August 1997 - .CD created.²²⁶
20 August 1997 - .PM created.²²⁷
21st August 1997 - .BV created.²²⁸
21st August 1997 - .SJ created.²²⁹
26 August 1997 - .TF created.²³⁰
28 August 1997 - .SO created.²³¹
16th September 1997 - .IO created.²³²
23rd September 1997 - .SH created.²³³
13th October 1997 - .CC created.²³⁴
16th October 1997 - .AF created.²³⁵
23rd October 1997 - ccTLD News Memo #1 ("Policies and Procedures") issued by Jon Postel.
3rd November 1997 - .TD created.²³⁶
7th November 1997 - .ST created.²³⁷
7th November 1997 - .TK created.²³⁸
14th November 1997 - .WF created.²³⁹
17th November 1997 - .YT created.²⁴⁰
3rd December 1997 - Amendment 7 to Cooperative Agreement
3rd December 1997 - Amendment 8 to Cooperative Agreement
11st December 1997 - .TJ created.²⁴¹
19th December 1997 - .AC created.²⁴²
29th December 1997 - ccTLD News Memo #2 ("Cessation of US Government Funding") issued by Jon Postel.
30 January 1998: Ira Magaziner (Senior Policy Advisor to President Clinton) issues “Green Paper”.
30th March 1998 - .NR created.²⁴³
April 1998 - Amendment 9 to Cooperative Agreement
8th June 1998 - .KM created.²⁴⁴
8 June 1998: Department of Commerce issues Management of Internet Names and Addresses (the "White Paper").
18th September 1998 – ICANN established.
30th September 1998 – ICANN incorporates in California (CA entity # C2121683)
1st October 1998 Amendment 10 to Cooperative Agreement
November 1998: Department of Commerce enters into a Memorandum of Understanding with ICANN “for collaborative development and testing of the mechanisms, methods, and procedures necessary to transition management responsibility for specific DNS functions to the private sector.”
2nd - 4th March 1999 – ICANN 1 1st in Singapore.
.EH21 April 1999: ICANN selects five Accredited Registrars to participate in Phase I testing of the SRS.
20th May 1999 - .BD created. ²⁴⁵
25th - 27th May 1999 – ICANN 2 in Berlin, Germany.
25th May 1999 – ICANN issues "Statement of IANA TLD Delegation Practices (ICP-1)"
27th May 1999 – ICANN 2nd Ends http://meetings.icann.org/calendar
June 1999 – Paul Twomey becomes the first Chair of the Government Advisory Committee (GAC) ²⁴⁶
23rd -26th August 1999 – ICANN 3 in Santiago de Chile.
September 1999 – .EH created. ²⁴⁷
1st - November 1999 – ICANN 4 in Los Angeles, California.
November 1999 – Louis Touton recruited as ICANN employee #1. Serves as Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary.

2000-2010

11th February 2000 – ICANN issues report on changing of the .PN (Pitcairn Is.) ccTLD manager.²⁴⁸
23rd February 2000 – "Principles for Delegation and Administration of Country Code Top Level Domains" issued by ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)
24th February 2000 – "Best Practices Guidelines for ccTLD Managers" 1st Draft formally submitted to ICANN by CENTR²⁴⁹
7th-10th March 2000 – http://archive.icann.org/en/meetings/cairo2000 ICANN 5 in Cairo
5th March 2000–Alternate ccTLD Best Practices Draft (Prepared by IATLD and submitted to ICANN]at Cairo ) https://archive[[ICANN]]org/en/s/cairo2000/altbestpracdraft v2 05mar00htm
22nd March 2000 – .PS created ²⁵⁰
7th July 2000 - General Counsel of the United States' Government Asset Office (GAO) gives written opinion on root authority ²⁵¹
13th - 17th July 2000 – ICANN 6 in Yokohama, Japan.
13th - 16h November 2000 – [http://archive.icann.org/en/meetings/mdr2000|ICANN 7 in Marina del Rey, California.
9th - 13th March 2001 – ICANN 8 in Melbourne, Australia.
1st June 2001 – ICANN 9 in Stockholm, Sweden.
7th - 10th September 2001 – ICANN10 in Montevideo, Uruguay.
10th September 2001 – ICANN Board issued report on change of manager of the .AU (Australia) ccTLD²⁵²
12th November 2001 – ICANN 11 with armed guards in Marina del Rey, California.
10th March 2002 – ICANN 12 in Accra, Ghana.
June 2002 – KPNQwest enters insolvency. DNS for over 60 TLDs threatened ²⁵³
24th June 2002 – ICANN 13 in Bucharest, Romania.
25th June 2002 – ccTLD managers oppose imposition of zone data escrow by ICANN Requirement for ccTLDs ²⁵⁴
June 2002 – Paul Twomey completes term as Chair of the Government Advisory Committee (GAC)²⁵⁵
27th-31st October 2002 – ICANN 14 Shanghai http://meetings.icann.org/calendar
December 2002 – ccTLDs managers withdraw from ICANN formal structures ICANN²⁵⁶
14th December 2002 – ICANN 15, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
14th December 2002 – ICANN's DNSO ceases to exist.
14th December 2002 – ICANN Generic Name Supporting Organisation (GNSO) created
18th February 2003 – World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) , Geneva
23rd March 2003 – ICANN 16, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
March 2003 - Mike Roberts steps down as ICANN President
March 2003 – Paul Twomey hired as ICANN's second President and CEO ²⁵⁷
22nd - 26th June 2003 – ICANN 17, Montreal, Canada.
26th June 2003 – ICANN Country Code Names Supporting Organisation (ccNSO) created ²⁵⁸
June 2003 – Louis Touton leaves post as ICANN's Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary²⁵⁹
27th -31st October 2003 – CANN 18 in Carthage, Tunisia.
2nd - 6th March 2004 – ICANN 19 in Rome, Italy.
19th July 2004 – ICANN 20, Kuala Lumpur http://meetings.icann.org/calendar
19th July 2004 – Delegation and Redelegation (presentation to ccTLDs by Peter Dengate Thrush) http://archive[[ICANN]]org/en/s/kualalumpur/
1st December 2004 – ICANN 21, Cape Town http://meetings.icann.org/calendar
23rd March 2005 – .TL created ²⁶⁰
5th April 2005 – ICANN's Governmental Advistory Committee issues major revision of its "Principles for Delegation and Administration of Country Code Top Level Domains"²⁶¹
28th April 2005 – .EU created²⁶²
30th June 2005 – US Government issues "Principles on the Internet's Domain Name and Addressing System" http://www.ntia.doc.gov/other publication/2005/us_principles internets_domain_name_and_addressing system
28th July 2005 – ICANN forces change of .IQ ccTLD manager ²⁶³
28th July 2005 – ICANN forces change of .KZ ccTLD manager ²⁶⁴
12th June 2006 – .AX created ²⁶⁵
16th Jan 2007 – ICANN Board (resolution 0704) approves motion to remove UM from the root Report on Revocation of the UM Top Level Domain (2007 01 10)
24th September 2007 – .KP created.²⁶⁶
24th September 2007 – .ME created.²⁶⁷
24th September 2007 – .RS created.²⁶⁸
11th October 2007 – .BL created ²⁶⁹
11th October 2007– .MF created ²⁷⁰
20th November 2007 – .BB recreated ²⁷¹
12th March 2008 – US Government writes to ICANN instructing no future action regarding UM without USG approval²⁷²
21st April 2008 – ICANN revokes .UM TLD²⁷³
2nd May 2008 – US Government write sto to Bill Manning asserting that the .UM TLD is an asset belonging to the United States{FOOTNOTE}
3rd February 2009 – ICANN Board resolves to transfer control of .SO to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia²⁷⁴
June 2009 – Paul Twomey retires as ICANN's second President and CEO ²⁷⁵
June 2009 – Rod Beckstrom becomes [[ICANN]]'s third President and CEO
July 2009 – Paul Twomey becomes [[ICANN]]'s Senior President https://wwwlinkedincom/profile/view?id=6849030&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=Ldpx&locale=en_US&trk=tyah2&trkInfo=tarId%3A1411609218326%2Ctas%3APaul%20Two%2Cidx%3A1 1 1 {FOOTNOTE}

2010 to today

January 2010 – Paul Twomey retires as [[ICANN]]'s Senior President {FOOTNOTE()}https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=6849030&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=Ldpx&locale=en_US&trk=tyah2&trkInfo=tarId%3A1411609218326%2Ctas%3APaul%20Two%2Cidx%3A1/1/1
7th Mar 2010 – Rod Beckstrom announces Pay to Play policy at ccNSO
20th Dec 2010–.BQ created.²⁷⁶
20th Dec 2010–.CW created.²⁷⁷
20th Dec 2010–.SX created.²⁷⁸
31st Aug 2011 .SS created.²⁷⁹