View source for Internet 1996 World Exposition

{{Short description|World expo held on the internet}}

The '''Internet 1996 World Exposition''' was a [[world exposition]] held on the internet, with a central site linked to country pavilions around the world.<ref name="take part"></ref> It was the first "World's Fair" not to be held in a single city or a specific geographic location.<ref name="take part"></ref> Corporations, organizations and individuals use the expo to showcase themselves, using the medium as the main theme.<ref name="take part"></ref> The expo was organized by the [[Washington D.C.|Washington]]-based non profit organization Internet Multicasting Service with [[Carl Malamud]] as the organization's president.<ref name="nets">{{cite news |title=Expo to introduce public to capabilities of information nets |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19960117-1.2.33.14?qt=internet,%201996,%20world,%20exposition&q=internet%201996%20world%20exposition |access-date=September 20, 2024 |work=The Straits Times |date=January 17, 1996}}</ref> 

The expo ran from January 1, 1996 through the end of 1996.<ref name="work">{{cite news |title=Webmasters wanted for voluntary work |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19960605-1.2.139.19.1?qt=internet,%201996,%20world,%20exposition&q=internet%201996%20world%20exposition |access-date=September 20, 2024 |work=The Straits Times |date=June 5, 1996}}</ref> The countries that participated in the expo were [[Japan]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Peru]], [[Singapore]], [[South Korea]], [[Sweden]], [[Taiwan]], the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]].<ref name="take part">{{cite news |title=S'pore to take part in exposition on the Net |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19960117-1.2.33.13?qt=internet,%201996,%20world,%20exposition&q=internet%201996%20world%20exposition |access-date=September 20, 2024 |work=The Straits Times |date=January 17, 1996}} </ref> Governments and industries have spent about US$100 million in this expo project.<ref name="work"></ref> The opening event of the expo was held at Washington D.C. on February 8, 1996.<ref name="a day"></ref>

Sponsors provided in-kind contributions that included the first [[Digital Signal 3|DS3]] over the [[Pacific Ocean]] and two [[terabytes]] of [[disk drives]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Peter H. |date=1995-03-14 |title=In 1996, a World's Fair to Be Held in Cyberspace |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/14/business/in-1996-a-world-s-fair-to-be-held-in-cyberspace.html |access-date=2022-09-23 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Throughout the year, a variety of events brought the fair into the real world. One of Singapore's offerings were multilingual web {{endash}} a collection of websites in languages other than English and the promotion of various year-round events and festivals in Singapore provided by the steering committee of the Singapore pavilion.<ref name="take part"></ref> Japan set up banners and parties in the [[Harajuku]] district of [[Tokyo]], Taiwan opened public computers in 100 locations, and the Netherlands brought the fair to street festivals. At the end of the year, a closing ceremony was held in Tokyo, where the fair archives were archived to CD-ROM, blessed by a [[Shinto]] [[priest]], and put in a [[time capsule]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Malamud |first=Carl |date=December 5, 1996 |title=The Internet 1996 World Exposition: Preparing for the ApresFair: The Future of Communications |url=https://public.resource.org/scribd/2576786.pdf |access-date=2022-09-23 |website=Public.Resource.Org}}</ref>

Other events include 24 Hours in Cyberspace, a 24-hour photography competition which became the featured event in the expo,<ref name="a day">{{cite news |title=Netting a day in the life of Internet |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19960125-1.2.119.3.6?qt=internet,%201996,%20world,%20exposition&q=internet%201996%20world%20exposition |access-date=September 20, 2024 |work=The Straits Times |agency=Reuters |date=January 25, 1996}}</ref> projects such as Global Schoolhouse Pavilion and American Folklife Festival,<ref name="nets"></ref> and pavilions such as the Future of Media, Small Business, and Reinventing Government.<ref name="nets"></ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://park.org/ The Internet 1996 World Exposition]

[[Category:1996 festivals]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1996]]
[[Category:History websites]]


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