Tim Berners-Lee

English computer scientist (born 1955) · United Kingdom · Developers

Tim Berners-Lee is read about 3,013 times a day, in 147 languages.

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He wrote the code that turned the internet into the World Wide Web - the browser, the server, the protocols that let strangers' machines talk. Everything clickable traces back to a 1989 proposal at CERN.

Scientists Scientist Physics Web Development AI United Kingdom Europe 20th Century

A life in dates

2025Internet Archive Hero awardAward2017Axel Springer AwardAward2014Worthy of the CityAward2013Queen Elizabeth Prize for EngineeringAward2010UNESCO Niels Bohr MedalAward2008IEEE Maxwell AwardAward2007Charles Stark Draper PrizeAward2005QuadrigaAward2003Computer History Museum FellowAward2002Bodley MedalAward2001Japan PrizeAward2000Paul Evan Peters AwardAward1998MacArthur Fellows ProgramAward1997IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications AwardAward1996“Almost everything which you needed to know in your daily life was written down somewhere.”In their words7 February 1996[[Tim Berners-Lee], "The creator of the World Wide Web, TIM BERNERS-LEE" "Fresh Air", NPR, (February 7, 1996); as quoted by Julian Ring “30Read the whole statement

1994“Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.”In their wordsJune 1994Interview by Kris Herbst for Internet World (June 1994)Read the whole statement

“Now, if someone tries to monopolize the Web, for example pushes proprietary variations on network protocols, then that would make me unhappy.”In their wordsJune 1994Interview by Kris Herbst for Internet World (June 1994)Read the whole statement

1992“An [hypertext] encyclopaedia will be an overall attempt by the knowledgeable, the learned societies or anyone else, to represent the state-of-the-art in their field.”In their wordsJune 1992"Electronic publishing and visions of hypertext", Physics World, June 1992.Read the whole statement

1991“This project is experimental and of course comes without any warranty whatsoever. However, it could start a revolution in information access.”In their words19 August 1991"WorldWideWeb wide-area hypertext app available" (19 August 1991), the announcement of the first WWW hypertext browser on the UsenetRead the whole statement

1989“We should work toward a universal linked information system, in which generality and portability are more important than fancy graphics techniques and complex extra facilities.”In their wordsMarch 1989"Information Management: A Proposal" (March 1989), the original proprosal for the software project at CERN that became the World Wide Web.Read the whole statement

1955Born8 June 1955

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

LS3 4919 (cropped)

5-star deployment scheme for Open Data

Acelerador de Particula 1996

Berners-Lee announcing W3F

Cailliau Abramatic Berners-Lee 10 years WWW consortium

Edward Snowden's Surprise Appearance at TED

Ibarguen and Berners-Lee announcing W3F

Launch of datagovuk

In their own words 10

Tim Berners-Lee

10 statements, newest first

Almost everything which you needed to know in your daily life was written down somewhere.
Feb 7, 1996, [[Tim Berners-Lee], "The creator of the World Wide Web, TIM BERNERS-LEE" "Fresh Air", NPR, (February 7, 1996); as quoted by Julian Ring “30, Own words
Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.
Jun 1994, Interview by Kris Herbst for Internet World (June 1994), Own words
Now, if someone tries to monopolize the Web, for example pushes proprietary variations on network protocols, then that would make me unhappy.
Jun 1994, Interview by Kris Herbst for Internet World (June 1994), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Internet Archive Hero award, Internet Archive2025

ACM Fellow2023

Obedience Award2017

Axel Springer Award2017

Turing Award2016

Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class2015

OII Lifetime Achievement Award2014

Worthy of the City, City of London2014

Honorary Doctor of Yale University2014

Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering2013

Internet Hall of Fame2012

Honorary Doctor of Harvard University2011

UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal2010

Royal Designer for Industry2009

Honorary doctor of the University of Liège2009

Honorary Doctor of the Open University of Catalonia2008

IEEE Maxwell Award2008

Charles Stark Draper Prize2007

Order of Merit2007

Lovelace Medal2006

President's Medal2006

Quadriga2005

Millennium Technology Prize2004

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire2004

Computer History Museum Fellow2003

Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research2002

Marconi Prize2002

Albert Medal2002

Bodley Medal2002

Japan Prize2001

Fellow of the Royal Society2001

Sir Frank Whittle Medal2001

Royal Medal2000

EFF Award2000

Paul Evan Peters Award2000

Honorary Doctorate of the Open University, The Open University2000

Eduard-Rhein Technology Award1998

MacArthur Fellows Program1998

Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award1998

IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award1997

GitHub

@timbl

Followers5,080

Public repos18

Family

Parents

Tim Berners-Lee

Sibling Mike Berners-Lee

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About this person

Timothy John Berners-Lee was born 8 June 1955 in England. On 12 March 1989, working as a computer scientist, he proposed an information management system; by mid-November he'd made the first successful HTTP connection between client and server over the internet. He built the first web browser and web server, devised HTML and the URL system, then spent the next decades stewarding what he'd started - founding the World Wide Web Consortium, co-founding the World Wide Web Foundation, and holding research posts at MIT and Oxford. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 2004. In 2016 he received the Turing Award for inventing the Web and the algorithms that let it scale, and Time named him among the hundred most important people of the twentieth century.

Country

United Kingdom

In common with Tim

Julian AssangeAlso in Inside the Dark Web (2014)

Edward SnowdenAlso in Inside the Dark Web (2014)

Jacob AppelbaumAlso in Inside the Dark Web (2014)

James DysonBoth received Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award

Carl MalamudBoth received Internet Archive Hero award

John Ffowcs WilliamsBoth received Sir Frank Whittle Medal

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