Electronic Mail
Both Electronic Mail and Instant Messaging were
available as early as 1965. Queen Elizabeth of Britain sent
her first email in 1976.
Users were sharing files - by placing them into common
directories - even earlier (in 1961). The system was
known as CTSS (Compatible Time-Sharing System). It
was modified by Louis Pouzin, Glenda Schroeder, and Pat
Crisman, Tom van Vleck and Noel Morris at the
beginning of 1965 to include a MAIL command. Van
Vleck and Morris also wrote an instant messaging tool
into the software. An unknown hack added a "You've got
mail" alert facility. Other timesharing systems - such as
SDC and BBN - also included e-mail by autumn 1965.
The military deployed AUTODIN (commissioned in
1962) and SAGE with full e-mail capabilities by 1966.
But these were same-machine e-mail applications. They
could not connect different computers. ARPANET, a unit
of the Department of Defence in the United States, was
the first to achieve inter-connectibility.
Ray Tomlinson of ARPANET sent the first recognizable email
message in 1971. It was addressed to himself and
read: "Testing 1-2-3". He then followed with a message to
all ARPANET users with instructions on how to use the
convention username@hostname.
At first, the use of the word "mail" was contentious as the
Postal Office was thought to have a monopoly on sending
personal notes and messages around. But the Postal
Office, not realizing the importance of e-mail, did not
object to the newly coined moniker e-mail.
______________________________Both Electronic Mail and Instant Messaging were
available as early as 1965. Queen Elizabeth of Britain sent
her first email in 1976.
Users were sharing files - by placing them into common
directories - even earlier (in 1961). The system was
known as CTSS (Compatible Time-Sharing System). It
was modified by Louis Pouzin, Glenda Schroeder, and Pat
Crisman, Tom van Vleck and Noel Morris at the
beginning of 1965 to include a MAIL command. Van
Vleck and Morris also wrote an instant messaging tool
into the software. An unknown hack added a "You've got
mail" alert facility. Other timesharing systems - such as
SDC and BBN - also included e-mail by autumn 1965.
The military deployed AUTODIN (commissioned in
1962) and SAGE with full e-mail capabilities by 1966.
But these were same-machine e-mail applications. They
could not connect different computers. ARPANET, a unit
of the Department of Defence in the United States, was
the first to achieve inter-connectibility.
Ray Tomlinson of ARPANET sent the first recognizable email
message in 1971. It was addressed to himself and
read: "Testing 1-2-3". He then followed with a message to
all ARPANET users with instructions on how to use the
convention username@hostname.
At first, the use of the word "mail" was contentious as the
Postal Office was thought to have a monopoly on sending
personal notes and messages around. But the Postal
Office, not realizing the importance of e-mail, did not
object to the newly coined moniker e-mail.
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