Hypertext is a collection of documents (or "nodes") containing cross references or "links" which, when
used with a web browsing program such as Internet Explorer, allow the reader to move easily from
one document to another. This system of text is what has made the World Wide Web today possible.
Three people in particular have contributed to the development of hypertext. They were Vannevar Bush,
Ted Nelson, and Tim Berners-Lee.
Though not directly responsible for the creation of hypertext or the internet, Bush's theoretical concept
known as "memex" contributed to the development of hypertext. "Memex" was in essence a theoretical
device electronically linked to a library which would be able to display books and films from the library
and automatically follow cross-references from one work to another. This idea inspired Ted Nelson's
concept of hypertext.
Ted invented the hypertext system in 1960 and the term hypertext was coined by him in 1965. He
sought to make use of his hypertext system in Project Xanadu. But due to various setbacks and lack
of funding he never completed it. Only a partially completed version of the Xanadu software was
released in 1998.
Using the system of hypertext, Tim created hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) in 1990. This protocol
is the language computers use to send and receive hypertext documents over the internet. Towards
the end of 1990 he created a "browser" called "WorldWideWeb" to view hypertext documents and
created the first web page. Combining these inventions of his, he created the World Wide Web: a
computer network with resources and information that can be accessed by any computer with web
browsing software, such as Internet Explorer.