The first computer virus, known as the "Creeper virus," was created in 1971 as an experimental self-replicating program. It wasn’t malicious and simply displayed the message, "I’m the creeper: catch me if you can." It was followed by the first antivirus program called "Reaper."
2. World's First Website
The first website was created by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, on August 6, 1991. It was a simple text page with hyperlinks and was hosted on Berners-Lee’s NeXT computer at CERN. The URL was http://info.cern.ch, and the site provided information about the World Wide Web project.
3. The First Smartphone
IBM introduced the first smartphone, the IBM Simon, in 1994. It featured a touchscreen, email capability, and included apps like a calculator, calendar, and notepad. It was bulky and had a battery life of about an hour, but it laid the groundwork for modern smartphones.
4. More Mobile Devices Than People
As of 2021, there were more mobile devices in the world than there were people. With over 8 billion mobile devices and a global population of around 7.9 billion, this statistic highlights the ubiquity of mobile technology.
5. Google's First Storage
Google’s first storage system was built using LEGO bricks. The colorful toy bricks were used to create a housing for ten 4GB hard drives, providing a total of 40GB of storage. The choice of LEGO allowed the system to be easily expandable.
6. Password "123456"
Despite repeated warnings about weak passwords, "123456" is consistently one of the most common passwords used worldwide, making it incredibly easy for hackers to break into accounts.
7. The First 1GB Hard Drive
The first 1GB hard drive was introduced by IBM in 1980. It weighed over 500 pounds and cost $40,000. Today, you can get thousands of times that storage on a device that fits in your pocket for a fraction of the price.
8. Email is Older Than the World Wide Web
Email was developed in the early 1970s by Ray Tomlinson, who sent the first electronic message between two computers. This happened over two decades before the World Wide Web was introduced in 1991.
9. The First Video Uploaded to YouTube
The first video ever uploaded to YouTube was titled "Me at the zoo." It was uploaded by co-founder Jawed Karim on April 23, 2005, and features him talking about elephants at the San Diego Zoo. YouTube has since grown to be one of the largest video-sharing platforms in the world.
10. Over 90% of the World's Data Was Created in the Last Two Years
With the rise of the internet, social media, and connected devices, the amount of data generated globally has skyrocketed. As of 2020, over 90% of the data in the world had been created in the previous two years alone.
