The invention of the internet cannot be credited to a single individual; it was the result of contributions from many scientists and engineers over decades. The foundational technology for the internet, the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), which allowed different networks to communicate, was invented by computer scientists Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn in the 1970s. Their work led to the official birth of the internet on January 1, 1983, when ARPANET adopted TCP/IP as its communication protocol. Later, the World Wide Web, which is often confused with the internet but is actually a system that makes the internet accessible and useful for everyday activities (like browsing websites), was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. Berners-Lee created the first web browser, URLs, HTML, and HTTP, thus enabling the modern web experience. Other important contributors to the development of the internet include J.C.R. Licklider, Leonard Kleinrock, Paul Baran, Donald Davies, and Lawrence Roberts, who worked on early concepts like packet switching and distributed networks. In summary:

• Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn invented TCP/IP, the key internet protocol.
• Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web.
• Many other scientists contributed foundational technologies leading to the internet’s creation.