The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library based in San Francisco, founded by Brewster Kahle with the goal of providing universal access to knowledge and preserving the web. It began archiving web pages in 1996, and its Wayback Machine, which lets users view earlier versions of websites, opened to the public in 2001. Over the years it added digitized books, audio, video, software and television news to its collections, which now amount to many petabytes of data. During the COVID-19 pandemic it opened a National Emergency Library, which led to a lawsuit by publishers, and in 2023 a federal court ruled against its lending program, a decision upheld on appeal in 2024. It has also been the target of cyberattacks.
Before and after
- from 13 February 1996 to 21 November 2006Nepalese Civil War
- 17 February 1996Launch of NEAR Shoemaker
- 27 February 1996Launch of Integrated Taxonomic Information System
- 12 April 1996Discovery of 55 Cancri b
- May 1996Founding of Internet Archive
- 19 June 1996Origins of Chess960
- 28 June 1996Constitution of Ukraine
- 17 July 1996Founding of Community of Portuguese Language Countries
- 31 July 1996Creation of Windows NT 4.0
More in Society, economy & sport
- 22 March 1945Founding of Arab League
- 8 August 1967Founding of ASEAN
- 10 December 1987Rise of Hamas
- 1994Rise of Taliban
- 1 January 1995Founding of World Trade Organization
- 11 September 2001September 11 attacks
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.