Way back in 1985 (seems like yesterday) "We Are The World" was on every radio station (the good one, not that crap remake), "Back to the Future" was in theaters, the Coca-Cola Company introduced the New Coke, a gallon of gas would set you back about $1.09 (sigh), and on March 15th, 1985 a computer manufacturer out of Cambridge, Massachusetts called Symbolics, Inc. registered the first .com domain (symbolics.com).

"But to say that .com took some time to take off is an understatement. Two and a half years after the first registration, only 100 total .com domains existed. Among the early adopters included IBM, Intel, AT&T and Cisco. By 1992, there were still less than 15,000 .com domains registered and the million-domain mark wasn't crossed until 1997, well into the Internet boom. Then came the ".com boom", with nearly 20 million names registered in the next two years. It also ushered in something termed "cybersquatting," where domains of famous people or companies were registered in hopes of getting a hefty sum to sell it. Nations implemented laws to combat cybersquatting, and the entertainer Madonna won a notable case in 2000 to get control of madonna.com.

The burst of the ".com bubble" cooled off the rapid growth for a short period, and since then .com has grown at a steady rate, with now more than 80 million domains. Yet, some of the most popular websites today were registered late into the .com era. Youtube.com, for example, wasn't registered until 2005. Twitter.com was also registered after the .com boom.While Symbolics the company didn't fare well, symbolics.com remains as the oldest .com and was purchased by Aron Meystedt, owner of XF.com in 2009."  -25yearsof.com

Verisign has launched 25yearsof.com to celebrate this historic acheivement of the .com. Versign has created an incredible website with news, history, videos and celebrations throughout 2010.

An article covering the 2009 sale of the Symbolics.com asset can be read here: DNJOURNAL ARTICLE

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I remember when .com was little.

CheckOneTwo , March 22, 2010

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