1973: Two US researchers devise protocol, to allow development of single-network Arpanet into multi-network internet.
1980: Tim Berners-Lee, at particle research station Cern, devises rules to start world wide web, and allow easy travel around the internet.
1982, 12 August: US bear market ends, with Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA) at 776.92 points, and Nasdaq at 159.84.
1990: In an article in the Washington Post, Al Gore introduces phrase "superinformation highway" to politics.
1992: America Online, which had been launched as a distributor of online games, floated, raising $23m.
1993, Jan: First issue of Wired published.
Launch of web browser Mosaic, forerunner to Netscape Navigator.
1995, July: Amazon launched.
Yahoo incorporated
1996, 12 April: Yahoo shares nearly triple in price on first day of trading.
1998: Oct, inaugural First Tuesday meeting.
1999, February: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with a fortune estimated at $10.1bn, reaches number 19 on Forbes' global rich list.
Sept: UK Prime Minister Tony Blair warns companies: "If you're not exploiting the opportunities of e-commerce, you could go bankrupt."
Nov: Fashion e-tailer Boo.com launches.
31 Dec: FTSE 100 peaks at 6.930.20.
2000, Jan 10: AOL and Time Warner announce merger
Jan 14: DJIA hits all-time closing high of 11,722.98.
January 30: More than 20 dot.coms. including Pets.com and Epidemic.com, pay up to $3m each for 30-second TV advertising spots at American football Super Bowl match.
March 2: Tony Dye quits Phillips & Drew, after forecasts of share crash fail to materialise.
March 6: FTSE Techmark index reaches record closing high of 5,743.40.
March 8: Tech firms including Freeserve, Psion, Thus and Baltimore Technologies promoted to FTSE 100 elite of top London listed firms.
March 10: Nasdaq reaches all-time closing high of 5.048.62.
March 14: Lastminute.com shares soar 28% on first day of trading.
May: Boo.com collapses, after spending $135m.
June: Psion, Baltimore Technologies, Kingston Communications and Thus ejected from FTSE 100.
August: Altavista UK chief Andy Mitchell resigns over unmetred net access package which was never launched.
November: Pets.com become first listed US dot.com to collapse. Other notable failures that month included Garden.com and Furniture.com.
December: UK internet service provider Freeserve bought by French rival Wanadoo.
2001, March: EToys fails.
April: Monthly statistics for US dot.com lay-offs peak at 17,554.
May: Monthly statistics for US dot.com closures peak at 64.
August: Case bought by Amazon investor against leading dot.com analyst Mary Meeker fails.
21 September: Nasdaq hits 1,423.19. FTSE Techmark hits record low of 1,064.98.
23 September: DJIA hits 8,235.81.
2002, January: Amazon announces first quarter in profit.
February: Entertainment site E-District settles case with former boss Steve Laitman sacked over claims of inflated traffic figures.
Amazon's Jeff Bezos, with fortune down to $1.5bn, ranked 293 on Forbes global rich list.
March: Plans revealed to relaunch Sportal sports site.