Unless someone printed this article on paper and handed it to you, you’re probably reading it on a Web browser.

Web browsers are our windows into the Internet. We use Web browsers to search, read articles and watch videos. Without a Web browser, the Internet is just endless lines of code.

The first true Web browser was invented at the University of Illinois in 1993. Its name was Mosaic, created by Marc Andreessen and his team. For the first time, Internet users could view text and pictures on the same page, and they could access the World Wide Web using a Windows personal computer.

Most people probably don’t remember Mosaic. But what about Netscape? For a decade beginning in 1994, it was one of the world’s dominant Web browsers at a time when individuals and institutions were finding their way online. The same team that invented Mosaic went on to create Netscape, which evolved into Mozilla’s Firefox. They shaped the way we view the Internet forever.

Learn more:
See this cool (and abundantly nerdy) timeline of the evolution of the Web.
Watch this PC World slide show on the history of Web browsers.
Read our story about the University of Illinois – one of the nation’s top engineering and tech schools.