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Registering a domain can be done with just a few simple clicks in 2025, but it hasn’t always been that way. Rewind to March 1985 and the internet’s first .com domain name was registered: Symbolics.com.
What makes this date particularly noteworthy is the fact that the World Wide Web didn’t even exist at that point, and it would be six years until the web came onto the scene and changed our world forever.
Put simply, the creation of Symbolics.com marked what many would regard as the beginning of the dot-com era; the embryonic phase of a tectonic shift in global business, commerce, and society in general.
So who was behind the registration? As the name obviously suggests, it was created by an organization called Symbolics Computer Corporation. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company specialized in the development of Lisp machines – early general-purpose computers running on the list processing (Lisp) programming language.
Registering a domain was no easy task during this period. The Domain Name System (DNS) was very much still in its infancy, and registrations were processed manually by the Stanford Research Institute (SRI).
To secure the domain, Symbolics was required to submit a paper request via fax machine or mail to the institute. Thereafter, it was a waiting game until it was processed and approved.
A far cry from the simple click-and-go experience of your modern web user.
A long road since the first domain name registration
It would be an understatement to say the web has come a long way in the 40 years since the Symbolics registration. It’s now an ever-present aspect of our daily lives, defining how we access information, shop, communicate with friends and family, and crucially, how we work.
We’ve seen the impact of IT downtime in the last few years, and it’s safe to say that moving back to pen and paper and fax machines on a full-time basis simply isn’t an option.
From that first registration, the number of domains globally has surged steadily over the years. As of the end of 2024, the number of domains registered globally stood at 364.3 million, according to figures from DNIB.
For context, in 2014 the number of domains registered globally stood at around 250 million. This continued growth over the last decade hasn’t been restricted to business-related domains, either. Anyone can create one easily and at a fairly reasonable price.
From microbusinesses and blogs to professional portfolios and artistic showcase sites, millions of people globally have some form of website and associated domain.
Where is Symbolics now?
Today, a quick visit to Symbolics.com will take you to what is essentially a web-based museum. In 2009, the domain was acquired by Aron Meystedt, a startup investor and founder of Napkin.com.
Meystedt has maintained the site since then, offering users a glimpse into historic events and milestones over the course of the web’s development. It still attracts tens of thousands of curious visitors each year, including myself while researching this article.
Aside from the interesting facts and tidbits available on the site, there is another interesting feature: an AI-powered domain name quality scoring tool.
It’s fantastic that, 40 years on from its creation, the world’s first domain has jumped on the AI bandwagon. Nonetheless, it is a handy tool and has been used by thousands of people to evaluate domain name strength and quality.