Why do web addresses start with www? episode artwork

EPISODE · May 24, 2026 · 5 MIN

Why do web addresses start with www?

from Do you really know? · host Bababam

You might be surprised to learn that the famous “www” in website addresses didn’t originate in Silicon Valley or New York, but at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, known as CERN for short, which is situated on the French-Swiss border close to Geneva.  It was 1989 when British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee came up with the idea for a hypertext system. Essentially, it was a way to connect different pieces of data through links, creating something like a giant web that would work via the internet. Aren’t internet and web the same thing?  What about the other parts of a web address then, like https or “.com” at the end? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here: ⁠⁠How to protect your art from AI exploitation?⁠⁠ ⁠⁠What is the internet of senses?⁠⁠ ⁠⁠What is Web 3.0?⁠⁠ A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance. First Broadcast: 30/9/2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published May 24, 2026

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Why do web addresses start with www?

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