
Tim Berners-Lee Invented the World Wide Web and Gave It Away for Free
In 1989, British engineer Tim Berners-Lee proposed a hypertext information system at CERN to help scientists share data. The first website went live in 1991. Rather than patent the technology and become a billionaire, he and CERN released it into the public domain in 1993. Experts estimate his invention would have been worth trillions.