17/09/2026
The Englishman Who Gave Away the Internet
In 1989, working quietly at CERN in Switzerland, a British scientist named Tim Berners-Lee proposed something almost nobody understood at the time: a way to link information across computers using simple addresses anyone could follow. By 1991, he had built the first website, the first browser and the first web server, and shared his creation with the world on 6 August that year.
Here is where his true character shone through. Berners-Lee could have patented his invention. He could have charged royalties on every single website ever built and become one of the richest men alive. Instead, he made a deliberate choice: he gave the World Wide Web away, freely, to everyone, forever, insisting it remain open and free from ownership.
That single act of generosity reshaped human civilisation. Every website you visit, every email you send, every piece of knowledge you find online exists because one British mind chose the good of mankind over personal fortune. Sir Tim Berners-Lee did not just build the web. He gave it to us all, expecting nothing in return.
