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History of Email Timeline

(1965 - Present)

Email is one of the foundational technologies of the internet age. This timeline traces its evolution from early message exchange on time-sharing computers in the 1960s, through Ray Tomlinson's pioneering network email in 1971, to the rise of webmail services like Hotmail and Gmail, and its ongoing role in modern digital communication. Less

Go to: Timeline | Event List | Key Facts | Directory

Early Messaging Systems

Telex becomes an operational teleprinter service

1933

Telex became an operational teleprinter service in 1933, beginning in Germany and Europe, and after 1945 spread around the world.

Image source: Telex

Telex becomes an operational teleprinter service

MIT's Compatible Time-Sharing System introduced

1961

With the introduction of MIT's Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) in 1961, for the first time multiple users could log into a central system from remote terminals, and store and share files on the central disk.

Image source: Compatible Time-Sharing System

MIT's Compatible Time-Sharing System introduced

AUTODIN military network becomes operational

1962

The AUTODIN military network in the United States, first operational in 1962, provided a message service between 1,350 terminals, handling 30 million messages per month, with an average message length of approximately 3,000 characters.

Computer-based messaging on MIT CTSS

1965

Computer-based messaging between users of the same system became possible following the advent of time-sharing in the early 1960s, with a notable implementation by MIT's CTSS project in 1965.

AUTODIN links more than 300 sites worldwide

1968

By 1968, AUTODIN linked more than 300 sites in several countries.

APL Mailbox by Larry Breed of STSC

1971

APL Mailbox, by Larry Breed of STSC, aimed at being a more robust mail software than a predecessor written in 1971.

Image source: History of email

APL Mailbox by Larry Breed of STSC

PLATO IV implements personal notes

1974

PLATO IV was networked to individual terminals over leased data lines prior to the implementation of personal notes in 1974.

Image source: PLATO (computer system)

PLATO IV implements personal notes

Commercial Email Services

IBM develops primitive office automation system

1970 - 1972

IBM developed a primitive in-house solution for office automation over the period 1970–1972, and replaced it with OFS (Office System), providing mail transfer between individuals, in 1974.

IBM VNET deployed

1975

IBM VNET was deployed by 1975, using BSC to communicate among CP-67 and VM hosts running RSCS.

USPS begins exploring electronic mail

1977

USPS began looking into electronic mail in 1977 resulting in the E-COM proposal in September 1978. The June 1979 usage of E-mail referred to the USPS project called Electronic Computer Originated Mail, abbreviated E-COM.

Development work begins on DEC ALL-IN-1

1977

Development work on DEC's ALL-IN-1 system began in 1977 and was released in 1982.

Image source: ALL-IN-1

Development work begins on DEC ALL-IN-1

Xerox Star development team relies on email

1977

The Xerox Star had been in development since 1977 and the development team relied heavily on the technologies they were working on, including electronic mail.

Image source: Xerox Star

Xerox Star development team relies on email

CompuServe offers intraoffice electronic mail

1978

CompuServe began offering electronic mail designed for intraoffice memos in 1978.

Image source: CompuServe

CompuServe offers intraoffice electronic mail

Xerox advertises Alto with Laurel email client

May 1979

In May 1979, Xerox ran a television advertisement for its 1973 Xerox Alto system, demonstrating the 1978 Distributed Message System (DMS) client, known as Laurel, to the US public.

Image source: Xerox Alto

Xerox advertises Alto with Laurel email client

IBM Profs released commercially

1981

This system developed into IBM Profs, which was available on request to customers before being released commercially in 1981.

CompuServe rebrands service as EMAIL

Apr 1981

CompuServe rebranded its electronic mail service as EMAIL in April 1981, which popularized the term.

DEC ALL-IN-1 released

1982

Development work on DEC's ALL-IN-1 system began in 1977 and was released in 1982.

HP launches HPMAIL

1982

Hewlett-Packard launched HPMAIL (later HP DeskManager) in 1982, which became the world's largest selling email system.

USPS E-COM service launches

1982 - 1985

The E-COM service launched in 1982, allowing corporate customers to send electronic mail to a post office branch from where it was printed and delivered in the normal way. It operated until 1985.

Minitel introduced commercially throughout France

1982

Introduced commercially throughout France in 1982, this system provided messaging services to French consumers.

Image source: Minitel

Minitel introduced commercially throughout France

MCI Mail operates commercial public email service

1983

1983 – MCI Mail operated by MCI Communications Corporation. A US trademark application (USPTO SN:73432146) was filed on June 27, 1983, but abandoned in August 1984.

FidoNet links IBM PCs for email

1984

In 1984, IBM PCs running DOS could link with FidoNet for email and shared bulletin board posting.

Soft-Switch releases email gateway product

1984

Soft-Switch released its eponymous email gateway product in 1984, acquired by Lotus Development ten years later.

HP OpenMail designed

1987

HP OpenMail, initially designed in 1987, was known for its ability to interconnect several other APIs and protocols, including MAPI, cc:Mail, SMTP/MIME, and X.400.

Image source: HP OpenMail

HP OpenMail designed

Microsoft internal network handles massive email volume

1987

By 1987 users of Microsoft's internal MS-Net network of about 1600 computers, workstations, and terminals sent 60,000 megabytes of email weekly via Xenix systems. As of 1993 the Xenix mail systems handled 650,000-750,000 messages daily, 4.5GB total or about 30-35 per user, 10-15% to or from outside the company.

MCI Mail first commercial public email on the Internet

1989

MCI Mail was the first commercial public email service to use the Internet in 1989.

ARPANET and Early Email

Ray Tomlinson sends first email between two computers

1971

In 1971, Ray Tomlinson sent the first mail message between two computers on the ARPANET, introducing the now-familiar address syntax with the '@' symbol designating the user's system address. He updated an existing utility called SNDMSG so that it could copy messages over the network, initiating the use of the '@' sign to separate the names of the user and the user's machine.

Image source: Email

Ray Tomlinson sends first email between two computers

Sylvia Wilbur sends early UK email over ARPANET

1974

Sylvia Wilbur, who worked for Peter Kirstein at University College London, was 'probably one of the first people in [the United Kingdom] ever to send an email [over the ARPANET], back in 1974'.

OED records first quotation for electronic mail

1975

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has a first quotation for electronic mail in the modern context in 1975.

Queen Elizabeth II sends first head-of-state email

Mar 26, 1976

Queen Elizabeth II sent the first electronic mail from a head of state over the ARPANET from the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment in England on March 26, 1976.

Business Week article on interoffice electronic mail

Sep 1976

In September 1976, a Business Week article entitled 'When interoffice mail goes electronic' remarked 'In a sense, electronic mail is not new'.

OED records first usage of E-mail

Jun 1979

The OED provides a June 1979 first usage for E-mail: 'Postal Service pushes ahead with E-mail' in the journal Electronics.

First Internet email sent to Germany via CSNET

Aug 3, 1984

The first Internet email sent to Germany via CSNET was from Laura Breeden to Michael Rotert and Werner Zorn as a carbon copy at the Technical University of Karlsruhe (today Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) on August 3, 1984.

First email sent from outer space

Aug 9, 1991

The first email sent from outer space was August 9, 1991, Space Shuttle mission STS-43.

Image source: STS-43

First email sent from outer space

US president uses Internet email

1994

The US president used Internet email in the 1990s, including a reply to an email from the prime minister of Sweden in 1994.

Protocols and Standards

Mail Protocol proposed in RFC 196

Jul 1971

A 'Mail Protocol' was proposed by Richard Watson at the Network Information Center's (NIC), hosted by SRI-ARC, in RFC 196 in July 1971. This proposal was revised and updated in RFC 221 and RFC 278 in August and November 1971, respectively.

Abhay Bhusan writes ARPANET FTP specifications

Jul 1972

In July 1972, Abhay Bhusan, a professor at MIT, was writing the final specs of the ARPANET File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which would be used to carry network mail.

Image source: File Transfer Protocol

Abhay Bhusan writes ARPANET FTP specifications

Ray Tomlinson proposes network mail protocol to INWG

Sep 1974

Ray Tomlinson proposed a network mail protocol to the International Network Working Group in INWG Protocol note 2, written in September 1974.

Coloured Book protocols run on UK academic networks

1975 - 1992

The Coloured Book protocols ran on academic networks in the United Kingdom from 1975 until 1992 and gained some acceptance internationally as 'interim' standards.

RFC 733 standardizes network text messages

Nov 1977

Through RFC 561, RFC 680, RFC 724, and finally RFC 733 in November 1977, a standardized framework was developed for 'electronic mail', also called 'network text messages', using FTP mail servers on the ARPANET.

Unix mail networked via UUCP; BerkNet written

1978

Unix mail was networked by 1978's UUCP, which was also used for USENET newsgroup postings, with similar headers. BerkNet, the Berkeley Network, was written by Eric Schmidt in 1978 and included first in the Second Berkeley Software Distribution.

Image source: UUCP

Unix mail networked via UUCP; BerkNet written

Delivermail tool written by Eric Allman

1979 - 1980

The delivermail tool, written by Eric Allman in 1979 and 1980 (and shipped in 4BSD), provided support for routing mail over dissimilar networks, including Arpanet, UUCP, and BerkNet. It was introduced to replace SNDMSG as an MTA.

UUCP released for Unix systems

1979

UUCP implementations for Unix systems, initially released in 1979, and later for other operating systems, only had dial-up communications available.

Derek Barber presents network mail protocol on EIN

Feb 1979

Subsequently, Derek Barber implemented a network mail protocol on the EIN, which he presented to INWG in February 1979. This was referenced by Jon Postel in his March 1979 work on an 'Internet Message Protocol' in IEN number 85, which was RFC 753.

BITNET provides email for educational institutions

1981

BITNET (1981) provided electronic mail services for educational institutions.

Image source: BITNET

BITNET provides email for educational institutions

CSNET begins operation with Phonenet

1981

CSNET, which began operation in 1981, initially used a purpose-built dial-up protocol, called Phonenet, to provide mail-relay services for non-ARPANET hosts.

Image source: CSNET

CSNET begins operation with Phonenet

RFC 788 describes Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

Nov 1981

In November 1981, Postel published RFC 788 describing the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) protocol, which was updated by RFC 821 in August 1982. SMTP had been first proposed by Jon Postel and Suzanne Sluizer in September 1980 in RFC 772 as the Mail Transfer Protocol (MTP).

Image source: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

RFC 788 describes Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

Addresses extended to [email protected] by RFC 805

Feb 1982

Addresses were extended to [email protected] by RFC 805 in February 1982.

Sendmail MTA introduced

1983

A new mail transfer agent (MTA) based on SMTP, Sendmail, was introduced in 1983.

ARPANET switches to TCP/IP

Jan 1, 1983

ARPANET switched to TCP/IP on January 1, 1983 and the Internet grew rapidly thereafter (see Protocol Wars).

Image source: ARPANET

ARPANET switches to TCP/IP

SMTP implemented on the ARPANET

1983

The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) protocol was implemented on the ARPANET in 1983.

X.400 standard published

1984

X.400, published in 1984, was promoted by major vendors, and mandated for government use under GOSIP, but abandoned by all but a few in favor of Internet protocol suite's SMTP by the mid-1990s (see Protocol Wars).

Post Office Protocol (POP) developed

1984

The Internet community developed two further standards, the Post Office Protocol (POP) and the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), in 1984 and 1988 respectively.

DNS introduced; mail routing updated by RFC 974

Jan 1986

After the introduction of the Domain Name System (DNS) in 1985, mail routing was updated in January 1986 by RFC 974.

Image source: Domain Name System

DNS introduced; mail routing updated by RFC 974

Message Handling System (MHS) protocol developed

1986

Message Handling System (MHS) protocol developed in 1986.

IMAP developed

1988

The Internet community developed two further standards, the Post Office Protocol (POP) and the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), in 1984 and 1988 respectively.

Key Facts

  1. Ray Tomlinson sent the first true network email in 1971 over ARPANET and chose the @ symbol to separate user names from host computer names.
  2. Before networked email, users exchanged messages using MAILBOX programs on shared mainframe computers as early as 1965 at MIT.
  3. The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), introduced in 1982, became the standard for sending email across networks and is still widely used today.
  4. Hotmail, launched in 1996, was one of the first free webmail services, making email accessible to anyone with an internet browser.
  5. Gmail launched by Google in 2004 revolutionized email with 1 GB of free storage, search functionality, and a conversation-based interface.

Source

This History of Email timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

We work hard to keep these timelines accurate, but mistakes do get through. If you spot one, email us at [email protected] and we'll fix it for future visitors.

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