Registration of a domain can be performed with only a few simple clicks in 2025, but it has not always been so. Wind back to March 1985 and Internet’s first .com -domain name was recorded: symbolics.com.
What makes this date particularly remarkable is the fact that the World Wide Web did not even exist at the time and it would be six years until the internet came on stage and changed our world forever.
In short, the creation of symbolics.com marked what many would consider as the beginning of the dot-com era; The embryonic phase of a tectonic shift in global business, trade and society in general.
So who was behind the registration? As the name obviously suggests, it was created by an organization called Symbolicics Computer Corporation. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company specialized in the development of LISP machines – early general computers running on the LIST Processing program (LISP).
Registering a domain was no easy task during this period. The domain name system (DNS) was still very much in its infant, and registrations were dealt with manually by the Stanford Research Institute (SRI).
To ensure the domain, symbolism was required to submit a paper request via fax machine or mail to the institute. Then it was a waiting game until it was processed and approved.
Far from the simple click-and-go experience of your modern web user.
A long way since the first domain name registration
It would be an understatement to say that the Internet has come a long way in the 40 years since the symbolic registration. It is now an always present aspect of our daily lives that defines how we gain access to information, shopping, communicating with friends and family and crucial how we work.
We have seen the effect of that downtime in the last few years, and that is safe to say that moving back to pen and paper and fax machines full time is not an option.
From the first registration, the number of domains globally has increased steadily over the years. From the end of 2024, the number of registered domains globally accounted for 364.3 million, according to figures from DNIB.
For context, the number of domains registered globally in 2014 was around 250 million. This continued growth in the last decade has also not been limited to business -related domains. Everyone can easily create one and at a fairly reasonable price.
From microbusinesses and blogs to professional portfolios and artistic showcase sites have millions of people globally a form of site and associated domain.
Where is symbolism now?
Today, a quick visit to symbolics.com will lead you to what is essentially a web -based museum. In 2009, the domain was acquired by Aron Meystede, a starting investor and founder of napkin.com.
Meystede has maintained the place since then, which has offered users a glimpse of historical events and milestones during the development of the web. It still attracts tens of thousands of curious visitors every year, including myself while examining this article.
Apart from the interesting facts and small-terms available on the site, there is another interesting feature: an AI-driven domain name quality scoring tool.
It’s great that the world’s first domain, 40 years from its creation, has jumped on the AI tape car. Nevertheless, it is a practical tool and has been used by thousands of people to evaluate domain name and quality.
