In 1989, British computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, engendering the greatest paradigm shift of the modern era.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s “WorldWideWeb” application was the first hypermedia browser/editor, allowing users to create and navigate links between files across a network of computers. It was written in the Objective C programming language, using the Interface Builder on a NeXT computer, a highly influential and innovative computer designed by Steve Jobs in between the time he was forced out of Apple in 1985 and when he rejoined in 1997.

The files referenced by this NFT contain code totalling 9,555 lines. Their contents include implementations of the three languages and protocols Sir Tim invented that remain fundamental to the World Wide Web today: HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers). There are also original HTML documents that instructed early web users on how to use the application.

• An animated visualization of the code [alternate]
• Original, time-stamped code files (tar.gz archive) [alternate]
• Browsable online directory of code [alternate]
• Digital “poster” of the full code [alternate]
• A letter from Sir Tim [alternate]