The History of the Internet and the Web, and the Evolution of Web Standards
http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/2-the-history-of-the-internet-and-the-w/

Francis, Mark Norman
Opera
2008

Abstract:

a brief overview of the creation of the Internet, the World Wide Web, and the "web standards" that this entire series focuses upon. I think it is useful and interesting to understand how we got to where we are, but it will be short enough so you don’t get overwhelmed, and can get into the details nice and quickly.