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
74. https://web.archive.org/web/19970502090059/http://www.rs.internic.net/nsf/solicitation.html
222. http://archive.icann.org/en/nsi/factsheet.htm
246. [https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/paul_twomey_2014_05_22_en
248. https://www.iana.org/reports/2000/pn-report-11feb00.html
249. http://archive.icann.org/en/s/cairo2000/centr_cctld_best_practices_24feb00.htm
250. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ps.html
251. http://www.gao.gov/assets/90/89949.pdf
252. https://www.iana.org/reports/2001/au-report-31aug01.htmlICANN Report on .AU]
253. http://wwww.wtld.org/s/cctld/20020625/icann_AXFR_KimDavies.html
254. http://wwww.wtld.org/s/cctld/20020625/icann_AXFR_KimDavies.html
255. https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/paul_twomey_2014_05_22_en
256. http://www.dnso.org/constituency/cctld/cctld.html
257. https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/paul_twomey_2014_05_22/en
258. http://archive.icann.org/en/s/montreal/ccnso_organization_topic.htm
259. https://www.icann.org/news/announcement_2003_05_22/en
260. IANA Report on the Delegation of the TL Top Level Domain (2005 08 05)
- 4th - 8th April 2005 – http://archive.icann.org/en/meetings/mardelplata ICANN 22 in Mar del Plata, Argentina
261. https://gacweb.icann.org/download/attachments/27132037/ccTLD_Principles_0pdf?version=1&modificationDate=132381 11999889000&api=v2
262. https://www.iana.org/reports/2005/eu-report-05aug2005.pdf
263. http://www.the.register.co.uk/2005/12/29/us_undermines_internet/
264. http://www.the.register.co.uk/2005/12/29/us_undermines_internet/
265. IANA Report on the Delegation of the AX Top Level Domain (2006 06 09)
266. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/kp..html
267. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/me.html
268. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/rs.html
269. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/bl.html
270. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/mf.html
271. Report on the Redelegation of the BB Top Level Domain to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development’s Telecommunications Unit (2007 11 20)
272. https://www.iana.org/reports/2007/um-report-10jan2007.html
273. https://www.iana.org/reports/2007/um-report-10jan2007.html)
274. https://www.iana.org/reports/2009/so-report-03feb2009.html
275. https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/paul_twomey_2014_05_22_en
276. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/bq.html
277. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/cw.html
278. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/sx.html
279. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ss.html