WHAT WAS THE FIRST WEBSITE EVER MADE?
THE SIMPLE CERN PAGE THAT STARTED THE WORLD WIDE WEB—AND CAN STILL BE VISITED TODAY
THE SHORT ANSWER
The first website ever made was created by British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee while he was working at CERN, the European particle-physics laboratory near Geneva.
It was hosted at info.cern.ch and explained the new World Wide Web project. The page told visitors what the web was, how to use it, how to create a web server and where to find the small number of other web resources then available.
The first web server and website were running by the end of 1990. The project became available more widely during 1991, and Berners-Lee announced it to the internet's alt.hypertext newsgroup on 6 August 1991.
You can still visit CERN's restored version today—but the page now online is a historical reconstruction rather than an untouched copy of the exact earliest 1990 files.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST WEBSITE EVER MADE?
The world's first website was the home of the World Wide Web project itself. Its original server address was:
THE FIRST WEBSITE
The best-known first-page address was:
info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html
That page was not a company homepage, personal blog, news site or online shop. It was a practical guide to the web itself. In modern terms, it was part product documentation, part help centre and part directory of everything that existed on the web.
The page described the WorldWideWeb initiative as a way to provide universal access to a large collection of linked documents. Its links led to technical information, software, project history, people involved, help pages and instructions for anyone interested in running a server.
WHO CREATED THE FIRST WEBSITE?
Tim Berners-Lee created the first website while working as a software engineer at CERN. He had proposed a linked information system in March 1989 to help researchers manage and share information held on different computers.
His idea combined three important technologies:
| TECHNOLOGY | WHAT IT DID | WHY IT MATTERED |
|---|---|---|
| HTML | Provided a simple format for structuring pages and links. | Different people could publish readable, connected documents. |
| HTTP | Allowed browsers and servers to request and deliver web documents. | Pages could be retrieved from other computers across a network. |
| URLs | Gave each web resource a usable address. | Links could point consistently to documents stored elsewhere. |
Berners-Lee also wrote the first web server and the first web browser. His browser was called WorldWideWeb—later renamed Nexus to avoid confusion with the web itself—and it could both view and edit pages.
Belgian engineer Robert Cailliau became an important collaborator and advocate for the project. Other CERN staff later helped make browsers and software that allowed the web to work on a wider range of computers.
WHEN DID THE FIRST WEBSITE GO LIVE?
The safest answer is that the first website and web server were operating at CERN by the end of December 1990. At that stage, access was extremely limited because the software and compatible computers were still being developed.
During March 1991, web software became available to colleagues using CERN computers. Berners-Lee then announced the project publicly on the alt.hypertext internet newsgroup on 6 August 1991, helping the idea spread beyond CERN and the particle-physics community.
This is why different articles sometimes give different “launch dates”:
| DATE | WHAT HAPPENED | HOW TO INTERPRET IT |
|---|---|---|
| March 1989 | Berners-Lee submitted his first proposal. | The idea was formally described, but no public website yet existed. |
| End of 1990 | The first browser, server and website were running at CERN. | This is when the first website technically existed. |
| 6 August 1991 | Berners-Lee announced the WWW software on alt.hypertext. | This is often treated as the web's public debut. |
| 30 April 1993 | CERN made key web software available on a royalty-free basis. | This helped protect the web as an open technology anyone could build upon. |
WHAT DID THE FIRST WEBSITE CONTAIN?
The first website was about the World Wide Web. It did not attempt to entertain visitors or sell anything. Its purpose was to explain the project and help other people participate.
The surviving reconstruction links to sections covering:
| SECTION | WHAT IT OFFERED | MODERN EQUIVALENT |
|---|---|---|
| Project summary | An explanation of the World Wide Web concept. | A product homepage or “about” page. |
| Help | Instructions related to the browser being used. | A support centre or user guide. |
| Software products | Information about browsers, servers and web tools. | A developer download page. |
| Technical details | Protocols, formats and program information. | Technical documentation. |
| What's out there? | Pointers to the limited information then available online. | A web directory or very early search guide. |
| How can I help? | An invitation to support and expand the web. | An open-source contribution page. |
The first website therefore had an unusual role: it was a website that taught people how websites worked before almost anyone knew what a website was.
WHAT DID THE FIRST WEBSITE LOOK LIKE?
Compared with a modern website, it looked extremely plain. It consisted mainly of black text, headings and blue hyperlinks on a white or neutral background, depending on the browser used.
There were no photographs, video clips, animations, adverts, cookie banners, login forms or social-sharing buttons. Early web pages concentrated on linked information because that was the breakthrough: a reader could select a highlighted phrase and jump to another document, even when it was stored on a different computer.
The experience also depended on the browser. Berners-Lee's original NeXT browser had a graphical interface and editing features, but many early users accessed the web through the line-mode browser, which displayed text in a terminal and represented links with numbers.
IT WAS SIMPLE BECAUSE THE WEB WAS NEW
The lack of visual design was not a failure. The first priority was proving that linked documents could be published, located and retrieved across different computers.
THE COMPUTER THAT HOSTED THE FIRST WEBSITE
The first website ran on a NeXT computer in Tim Berners-Lee's CERN office. The same machine acted as the first web server, responding when a browser requested a page.
Because the server looked like an ordinary workstation, it carried a handwritten warning in red ink:
“THIS MACHINE IS A SERVER. DO NOT POWER IT DOWN!!”
The warning was practical. Switching off that single computer would have taken the world's first website offline.
Modern websites are often distributed across large data centres, content-delivery networks and cloud platforms. The earliest web was far more fragile: one machine, one office and a tiny group of people experimenting with a new idea.
CAN YOU STILL VISIT THE FIRST WEBSITE?
Yes. CERN maintains info.cern.ch as the home of the first website and provides links to a restored version of its early pages.
There is an important qualification. The website now available is not an untouched digital fossil from 1990. CERN has explained that the first site was not preserved in its exact original state and that surprisingly little early code and content survived.
The restored page is based on material recovered from the early web, including a later copy from the project's first years. It gives a convincing experience of what the site contained, but its survival should not be mistaken for an unbroken, unchanged page that has remained online since day one.
| CLAIM | VERDICT | EXPLANATION |
|---|---|---|
| The first website's address still exists. | True | CERN still operates info.cern.ch. |
| The exact original 1990 page is unchanged. | False | The current version is a restoration of early material. |
| You can experience the early site today. | True | CERN provides the restored page and a line-mode browser simulator. |
WAS THE FIRST WEBSITE ALSO THE START OF THE INTERNET?
No. The internet and the World Wide Web are related, but they are not the same thing.
The internet is the underlying network infrastructure that allows computers to communicate. Its history stretches back through ARPANET, packet switching and the adoption of TCP/IP long before the first website appeared.
The World Wide Web is a system of linked pages and resources that runs over the internet. Websites, web browsers and hyperlinks belong to the web.
A useful comparison is that the internet is the road network, while the web is one of the services travelling across those roads. Email, file transfer, online games and other internet services do not have to use web pages.
For a deeper explanation of the competing dates, see our guide to how old the internet really is.
HOW DID ONE WEBSITE BECOME A GLOBAL WEB?
The first site was useful because it explained how other people could build websites and servers of their own. Instead of creating one central information service controlled by CERN, Berners-Lee designed an open system in which anyone could publish a document and link it to another.
Nicola Pellow developed a line-mode browser that could run on a wider range of computers. In December 1991, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center brought the first web server in the United States online.
Growth accelerated when easier graphical browsers appeared. NCSA Mosaic, released in 1993, made the web more approachable on popular computers. CERN's decision on 30 April 1993 to release key web software on a royalty-free basis helped ensure that organisations could adopt the technology without paying licence fees.
By the end of 1993, CERN records more than 500 known web servers. By the end of 1994, that figure had grown to around 10,000 servers and an estimated 10 million users.
WHY WAS THE FIRST WEBSITE SO IMPORTANT?
The page itself was modest. Its importance came from the system behind it.
Before the web, computer networks already carried email, files and specialist online services. However, finding and navigating information could be difficult, and different systems often required separate software or technical knowledge.
The web introduced a simple pattern that people still recognise:
| WEB IDEA | WHAT IT CHANGED |
|---|---|
| Every resource could have an address. | People could point directly to information stored elsewhere. |
| Documents could link to other documents. | Readers could follow ideas instead of navigating rigid databases. |
| Common standards could work across computers. | Publishers and readers did not need to use the same machine. |
| Anyone could create a server. | The system could grow without one organisation approving every page. |
That openness allowed the web to expand from a scientific information project into the publishing, communication, entertainment and commercial platform used around the world today.
FIRST-WEBSITE TIMELINE
| YEAR | MILESTONE | WHY IT MATTERED |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Berners-Lee built ENQUIRE, an earlier linked-information program. | It explored ideas that later influenced the web. |
| 1989 | He submitted his first proposal for a universal linked-information system. | The core vision of the web was documented. |
| 1990 | The first browser, server and website were built at CERN. | The proposal became a working system. |
| 1991 | The web was released more widely and announced online. | Developers outside CERN could begin using it. |
| 1993 | CERN made key web software royalty-free; Mosaic appeared. | Adoption became easier and faster. |
| 2013 | CERN began a project to restore and preserve the first website. | The web's earliest surviving material returned to its original address. |
SOURCES AND FACT CHECK
This article was checked against official material from CERN and the World Wide Web Consortium.
CERN: A short history of the Web
CERN: Home of the first website
CERN: The restored World Wide Web project page
CERN timeline: The 6 August 1991 public announcement
FAQS ABOUT THE FIRST WEBSITE
WHAT WAS THE FIRST WEBSITE EVER MADE?
The first website was created at CERN by Tim Berners-Lee and hosted at info.cern.ch. It explained the World Wide Web project and helped people learn how to use and expand the new system.
WHEN WAS THE FIRST WEBSITE CREATED?
The first website and web server were working by the end of 1990. The web was released more widely in 1991, with a public internet announcement on 6 August.
WHO MADE THE FIRST WEBSITE?
Tim Berners-Lee made the first website while working at CERN. He also created the first web server and the first browser-editor.
CAN YOU STILL VISIT THE FIRST WEBSITE?
Yes. CERN hosts a restored version at info.cern.ch. The page is a reconstruction of early material rather than an untouched copy of the exact first 1990 version.
WHAT DID THE FIRST WEBSITE LOOK LIKE?
It was a plain text page containing headings and links. It had no images, video, advertising or modern graphical design.
WAS THE FIRST WEBSITE THE BEGINNING OF THE INTERNET?
No. The internet already existed. The first website marked the beginning of the World Wide Web, which uses internet infrastructure to connect linked pages and resources.
SUMMARY: THE FIRST WEBSITE EXPLAINED THE WEB ITSELF
The world's first website was created by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN and hosted at info.cern.ch. It was a simple collection of text and links explaining the World Wide Web, its software and how other people could join the project. CERN now preserves a restored version at the original address, allowing visitors to experience the page that helped start the modern web.