Which came first, email or India?
India came first, by 24 years. India became independent from British rule.
Side by side
| India | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1971 | 1947 |
| Date | — | 1947-08-15 |
| Category | technology | country |
| What happened | Ray Tomlinson sent the first message between two computers and chose the @ sign. | India became independent from British rule. |
Messages had been left for other users of the same machine since the mid-1960s. What Tomlinson did in 1971 was send one between two different computers on ARPANET, and pick @ to separate the user from the host because it was the only preposition on the keyboard that could not appear in a name. He did not record the first message and later said it was probably "QWERTYUIOP" or similar. Email is eighteen years older than the Web.
India
India became independent on 15 August 1947 and a republic on 26 January 1950, when the constitution took effect — which is why the country has two national days. It remained a dominion with the British monarch as head of state for those two and a half years. India as a civilisation is thousands of years older; India as a state with its present borders is younger than the ballpoint pen.
Common questions
- Which came first, email or India?
- India, by 24 years — 1947 against 1971.
- When did email start?
- 1971. Ray Tomlinson sent the first message between two computers and chose the @ sign.
- When did India start?
- 1947. India became independent from British rule.
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- India or Pakistan? India
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- the internet (ARPANET) or email? the internet (ARPANET)
- email or Pakistan? Pakistan
Sources
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)