First Internet .com Celebrates 25th Anniversary Today

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The Symbolics logo as it appeared in 1985. (Image credit: FX.com)

Today, the 15th of March, marks the 25th anniversary of the registration of the first .com domain name in the history of the Internet.

The Symbolics Computer Company registered Symbolics.com in 1985, about a month before BBN Technologies scooped the next .com up.

Short for "commercial," the .com extension was intended for use in commerce. Today, however, it is the preferred Web page extension around the world, and is used for everything from company Web sites to personal blogs.

Since wading into the then-shallow water of the Internet, Symbolics has seen the Internet blossom into an integral part of our daily lives, from personal interaction to business to leisure. Symbolics estimates that more than 200 million .coms have been licensed since it snatched up the first one a quarter century ago.

In addition to being the first, Symbolics.com also remains the oldest still-active .com (it was sold to XF.com Investments last year).

Symbolics.com has teamed up with Verisign, the authoritative registry for .com names, to plan a year-long celebration of the birth of the .com extension.

Events include a policy forum discussion about the Internet's social and economic impacts tomorrow in Washington, D.C., where former president Bill Clinton will speak.

Later this year in May, a gala will be thrown in San Francisco to honor the 25 people and companies that made the .com possible and such a success. Honorees include former or current CEOs at Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and other big-name companies. VeriSign will also give out four awards of $75,000 in research grants to those shaping the next 25 years of the .com.

A dedicated Web site – and yet another .com – called 25yearsof.com has been established to help spread the word about how 1985's "most lasting contribution turned out to be three letters and a punctuation mark," according to the site.

Adam Hadhazy
Adam Hadhazy
Adam Hadhazy is a contributing writer for Live Science and Space.com. He often writes about physics, psychology, animal behavior and story topics in general that explore the blurring line between today's science fiction and tomorrow's science fact. Adam has a Master of Arts degree from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College. When not squeezing in reruns of Star Trek, Adam likes hurling a Frisbee or dining on spicy food. You can check out more of his work at www.adamhadhazy.com.