| My family tree has been traced back to the early | | | | Fellow Award, for his seminal contributions to the |
| Kings of England from the 7th. Century AD. This gives | | | | development of the World Wide Web. |
| me an interest in English History which is great fun to | | | | On 15 April 2004, he was named as the first recipient |
| research. As I am a direct descendent of Sir | | | | of Finland's Millenium Technology Prize, for inventing the |
| Christopher Wren I have been interested in English | | | | World Wide Web. The cash prize, worth one million |
| history and researching fun and interesting bits of | | | | euros (about £892,000, or US$1.3 million, as of May |
| England. I was born in Portsmouth in 1961 and | | | | 2009), was awarded on 15 June, in Helsinki, Finland, by |
| Southampton was classed as our biggest competing | | | | the President of the Republic of Finland, Tarja Halonen. |
| city especially in Football. | | | | He was awarded the rank of Knight Commander of |
| A graduate of Oxford University, Tim Berners-Lee ( | | | | the Order of the British Empire (the second-highest |
| born 8 June 1955 ) invented the World Wide Web, an | | | | class in this order of knighthood) by Queen Elizabeth II, |
| internet-based hypermedia initiative for global | | | | as part of the 2004 New Year's Honours, and was |
| information sharing while at Cern, the European Particle | | | | invested on 16 July 2004 |
| Physics Laboratory, in 1989. He wrote the first web | | | | On 21 July 2004, he was presented with an honorary |
| client and server in 1990. His specifications of URL's, | | | | Doctor of Science degree from Lancaster University. |
| HTTP and HTML were refined as Web technology | | | | On 27 January 2005, he was named Greatest Briton |
| spread. He is also a Professor in the Electronics and | | | | of 2004, both for his achievements and for displaying |
| Computer Science Department at the University of | | | | the key British characteristics of "diffidence, |
| Southampton, UK. | | | | determination, a sharp sense of humour and |
| On December 25,1990 he implemented the first | | | | adaptability", |
| successful communication between an HTTP client | | | | In 2007, he was ranked Joint First, alongside Albert |
| and server via the Internet with the help of_Robert | | | | Hofmann, in The Telegraph's list of 100 greatest living |
| Cailliau and a young student staff at CERN whose | | | | geniuses. |
| name is unknown. In terms of the technology that | | | | On 13 June 2007, he received the Order of Merit, |
| enables all forms of data communication | | | | becoming one of only 24 living members entitled to |
| (web,email,instant_messaging,digital phone, etc) | | | | hold the award, and to use 'O.M.' after their name. (The |
| between all the connected computer systems of the | | | | Order of Merit is regarded as a personal gift |
| world. | | | | bestowed by the reigning monarch, and does not |
| The first Web site built was at CERN, and was first | | | | require ministerial advice.) |
| put on line on 6 August 1991. | | | | On 20 September 2008, he was awarded the IEEE |
| The Internet and Transmission Control Protocols were | | | | RSE Wolfson James Clerk Maxwell Award, for |
| initially developed in 1973 and published in 1974. There | | | | conceiving and further developing the World Wide |
| ensued about 10 years of hard work, resulting in the roll | | | | Web IEEE. |
| out of Internet in 1983. Prior to that, a number of | | | | On 21 April 2009, he was awarded an honorary |
| demonstrations were made of the technology - such | | | | doctorate by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. |
| as the first three-network interconnection | | | | On 28 April 2009, he was elected member of the |
| demonstrated in November 1977 linking SATNET, | | | | National Academy of Sciences. |
| PRNET and ARPANET in a path leading from Menlo | | | | In 2009, he won the Webby Award for Lifetime |
| Park, CA to University College London and back to | | | | Achievement. |
| USC/ISI in Marina del Rey, CA. | | | | In October 2009, he was awarded an honorary |
| Berners-Lee is the director of the World Wide Web | | | | doctorate by the Vriji Universiteit Amsterdam. |
| Consortium (W3C), which oversees the Web's | | | | In 2010 Berners Lee updated HM Queen Elizabeth II |
| continued development. He is also the founder of the | | | | website which is now much easier to navigate and |
| World Wide Web Foundation and is a senior | | | | load and is full of really interesting details. |
| researcher and holder of the 3Com Founders Chair at | | | | |
| the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence | | | | My family tree has been traced back to the early |
| Laboratory (CSAIL). He is a director of The Web | | | | Kings of England from the 7th Century AD. I am also a |
| Science Research Initiative (WSRI),[4] and a member | | | | direct descendent of Sir Christopher Wren which has |
| of the advisory board of the MIT Centre for Collective | | | | given me an interest in English History which is great |
| Intelligence In April 2009, he was elected as a member | | | | fun to research. |
| of the United States National Academy of Sciences | | | | |
| based in Washington, D.C. | | | | I have recently decided to write articles on my |
| Recognition | | | | favourite subjects: English Sports, English History, |
| In 1994 he is one of only six members of the World | | | | English Icons, English Discoveries and English Inventions. |
| Wide Web Hall of Fame of 1994. | | | | At present I have written over 100 articles which I call |
| In 1999, Time magazine named Berners-Lee one of | | | | "An Englishman's Favourite Bits Of England" in various |
| the 100 most important people of the 20th Century. | | | | Volumes. Please visit my Blogs page where I have |
| In March 2000 he was awarded an Honorary Degree | | | | listed all my articles to date. |
| from the Open University as Doctor of the University. | | | | Copyright © 2010 Paul Hussey. All Rights Reserved. |
| In 2003, he received the Computer History Museum's | | | | |