According to Domain Name Stats, there are nearly 700 million registered domain names worldwide today.
But what was the first ever registered domain name?
The first domain name ever registered was symbolics.com, while the first .org domain ever registered was mitre.org.
This article covers details of the first registered domain used on the internet, how it impacted the domain names and the internet we know today.
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- The first domain name ever registered was symbolics.com while the first .org domain ever registered was mitre.org
- Symbolics.com marked the beginning of the modern domain name system that we use today and a simplified representation of numerical IP addresses used to access the web server
- Symbolics, Inc., the company that registered the first domain name in history, played a crucial role in the development of the technology and internet that we use today.
What Was the First Domain Name Ever Registered?
symbolics.com, the first ever domain registered, marked the commercialization of the Domain Name System (DNS).
DNS allows the human-readable naming of websites and resources on the internet, rather than using numerical IP addresses.
Today, you can access the original version of symbolics.com on a different web address. If you visit the original symbolics.com website, you’ll see that it was turned into an online museum that details the history of the internet and the web as we know it today.
When Was the First Ever Domain Name Registered?
Symbolics, Inc., a computer manufacturer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, registered the first-ever domain name on March 15, 1985. Symbolics, Inc. worked on developing computer workstations and software support for the Lisp programming language.
What Was the First .org Domain Ever Registered?
The first .org domain domain ever registered was mitre.org. registered in July 1985. The MITRE Corporation a not-for-profit organization that runs Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFDCs) in the United States is one of the early adopters of domain names in the .org top-level domain (TLD) which was established in January 1985.
Image Source: mitre.org (print screen)
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The History of Symbolics Inc.: The Company with First Registered .com Domain
Symbolics, Inc. was founded in 1980 by Russel Noftsker and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Noftsker, who had previously worked at the MIT AI Lab established Symbolics, Inc. with a primary focus on developing and manufacturing computer workstations for the Lisp programming language.
Lisp machines were specialized computers designed to run and compile Lisp-based software efficiently. Computer experts and scientists used Lisp machines to conduct artificial intelligence research and software development.
Symbolics struggled to compete with other companies in the Lisp Machine industry. The biggest competitor was Lisp Machines, Inc. (LMI.) However, as general-purpose workstations and personal computers (PCs) emerged, the Lisp machine market started to decline.
To fight the decline of the Lisp machines, Symbolics focused on developing software. They introduced different software development environments in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Some of them include the operating system Genera, as well as a text editor called Zmacs.
Symbolics, Inc. faced different financial issues in the 1990s and filed for bankruptcy in 1996. Despite the bankruptcy, the symbolics.com domain remains in use today and serves as a historical symbol of the early internet.
Its ownership changed over the years and decades, but its legacy lives on. The final acquisition of the symbolics.com domain name took place in August 2009, by XF.com Investments (now napkin.com.)
Image source: Symbolics.com
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100 Oldest Registered Domain Names
| No. | Domain name | TLD | Registration date | Registered by |
| 1. | symbolics.com | .com | March 15, 1985 | Symbolics, Inc. |
| 2. | bbn.com | .com | April 24, 1985 | Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc. (now Raytheon BBN) |
| 3. | think.com | .com | May 24, 1985 | Thinking Machines Corporation |
| 4. | mcc.com | .com | July 11, 1985 | Microelectronics and Computer Consortium (later Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation) |
| 5. | dec.com | .com | September 30, 1985 | Digital Equipment Corporation |
| 6. | northrop.com | .com | November 7, 1985 | Northrop Corporation |
| 7. | xerox.com | .com | January 9, 1986 | Xerox Holdings Corporation |
| 8. | sri.com | .com | January 17, 1986 | SRI International |
| 9. | hp.com | .com | March 3, 1986 | Hewlett-Packard Company |
| 10. | bellcore.com | .com | March 5, 1986 | Bellcore (now iconectiv) |
| 11. | ibm.com | .com | March 19, 1986 | International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) |
| 12. | sun.com | .com | March 19, 1986 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. |
| 13. | intel.com | .com | March 25, 1986 | Intel Corporation |
| 14. | ti.com | .com | March 25, 1986 | Texas Instruments Incorporated |
| 15. | att.com | .com | April 25, 1986 | AT&T, Inc. |
| 16. | gmr.com | .com | May 8, 1986 | General Motors Research Laboratories |
| 17. | tek.com | .com | May 8, 1986 | Tektronix, Inc. (known as Tek) |
| 18. | fmc.com | .com | July 10, 1986 | FMC Corporation |
| 19. | ub.com | .com | July 10, 1986 | Ungermann-Bass (also UB Networks) |
| 20. | bell-atl.com | .com | August 8, 1986 | Verizon Communications, Inc. (known as Verizon) |
| 21. | GE.com | August 5, 1986 | General Electric | |
| 22. | Grebyn.com | August 5, 1986 | Grebyn Corporation | |
| 23. | ISC.com | August 5, 1986 | Interactive Systems Corporation | |
| 24. | NSC.com | August 5, 1986 | National Semiconductor | |
| 25. | Stargate.com | August 5, 1986 | Stargate Information Services | |
| 26. | Boeing.com | September 2, 1986 | Boeing | |
| 27. | ITCorp.com | September 18, 1986 | Interrupt Technology Corporation | |
| 28. | Siemens.com | September 29, 1986 | Siemens AG | |
| 29. | Pyramid.com | October 18, 1986 | Pyramid Technology | |
| 30. | AlphaCDC.com | October 27, 1986 | Alpha Communications Development Corporation | |
| 31. | BDM.com | October 27, 1986 | BDM Corporation | |
| 32. | Fluke.com | October 27, 1986 | Fluke Corporation | |
| 33. | Inmet.com | October 27, 1986 | Intermetrics | |
| 34. | Kesmai.com | October 27, 1986 | Kesmai | |
| 35. | Mentor.com | October 27, 1986 | Mentor Graphics | |
| 36. | NEC.com | October 27, 1986 | NEC Corporation | |
| 37. | Ray.com | October 27, 1986 | Raytheon | |
| 38. | Rosemount.com | October 27, 1986 | Rosemount Inc. | |
| 39. | Vortex.com | October 27, 1986 | Vortex Technology | |
| 40. | Alcoa.com | November 5, 1986 | Alcoa | |
| 41. | GTE.com | November 5, 1986 | General Telephone and Electronics | |
| 42. | Adobe.com | November 17, 1986 | Adobe Systems | |
| 43. | AMD.com | November 17, 1986 | Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) | |
| 44. | DAS.com | November 17, 1986 | DA Systems, Inc. | |
| 45. | Data IO.com | November 17, 1986 | Data I/O Corporation | |
| 46. | Octopus.com | November 17, 1986 | Octopus Enterprises | |
| 47. | Portal.com | November 17, 1986 | Portal Communications Company | |
| 48. | Teltone.com | November 17, 1986 | Teltone Corporation | |
| 49. | 3Com.com | December 11, 1986 | 3Com Corporation | |
| 50. | Amdahl.com | December 11, 1986 | Amdahl Corporation | |
| 51. | CCUR.com | December 11, 1986 | Concurrent Computer Corporation | |
| 52. | CI.com | December 11, 1986 | Cognition, Inc. | |
| 53. | Convergent.com | December 11, 1986 | Convergent Technologies | |
| 54. | DG.com | December 11, 1986 | Data General | |
| 55. | Peregrine.com | December 11, 1986 | Peregrine Systems | |
| 56. | Quad.com | December 11, 1986 | Quadratron Systems Inc. | |
| 57. | SQ.com | December 11, 1986 | SoftQuad | |
| 58. | Tandy.com | December 11, 1986 | Tandy Corporation | |
| 59. | TTI.com | December 11, 1986 | Citicorp/TTI | |
| 60. | Unisys.com | December 11, 1986 | Unisys | |
| 61. | CGI.com | January 19, 1987 | Carnegie Group Inc. | |
| 62. | CTS.com | January 19, 1987 | Crash TimeSharing | |
| 63. | SPDCC.com | January 19, 1987 | S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting | |
| 64. | Apple.com | February 19, 1987 | Apple Computer | |
| 65. | NMA.com | March 4, 1987 | Network Management Associates | |
| 66. | Prime.com | March 4, 1987 | Prime Computer | |
| 67. | Philips.com | April 4, 1987 | Philips | |
| 68. | Datacube.com | April 23, 1987 | Datacube Inc. | |
| 69. | Kai.com | April 23, 1987 | Kuck and Associates, Inc. | |
| 70. | TIC.com | April 23, 1987 | Texas Internet Consulting | |
| 71. | Vine.com | April 23, 1987 | Vine Technology | |
| 72. | NCR.com | April 30, 1987 | NCR Corporation | |
| 73. | Cisco.com | May 14, 1987 | Cisco Systems | |
| 74. | RDL.com | May 14, 1987 | Research Development Laboratories | |
| 75. | SLB.com | May 20, 1987 | Schlumberger Limited | |
| 76. | ParcPlace.com | May 27, 1987 | ParcPlace Systems, Inc. | |
| 77. | UTC.com | May 27, 1987 | United Technologies Corporation | |
| 78. | IDE.com | June 26, 1987 | Interactive Development Environments | |
| 79. | TRW.com | July 9, 1987 | TRW | |
| 80. | Unipress.com | July 13, 1987 | Unipress Software | |
| 81. | Dupont.com | July 27, 1987 | DuPont | |
| 82. | Lockheed.com | July 27, 1987 | Lockheed Corporation | |
| 83. | Rosetta.com | July 28, 1987 | Rosetta Consulting | |
| 84. | Toad.com | August 18, 1987 | John Gilmore | |
| 85. | Quick.com | August 31, 1987 | Quicksilver Engineering | |
| 86. | Allied.com | September 3, 1987 | AlliedSignal | |
| 87. | DSC.com | September 3, 1987 | Digital Sound Corporation | |
| 88. | SCO.com | September 3, 1987 | Santa Cruz Operation | |
| 89. | Gene.com | September 22, 1987 | Genentech | |
| 90. | KCCS.com | September 22, 1987 | KC Computer Sciences | |
| 91. | Spectra.com | September 22, 1987 | Spectragraphics Corporation | |
| 92. | WLK.com | September 22, 1987 | W.L. Kennedy Jr. & Associates | |
| 93. | Mentat.com | September 30, 1987 | Mentat Inc. | |
| 94. | WYSE.com | October 14, 1987 | Wyse Technology | |
| 95. | CFG.com | November 2, 1987 | Caine, Farber & Gordon, Inc. | |
| 96. | Marble.com | November 9, 1987 | Marble Associates, Inc. | |
| 97. | Cayman.com | November 16, 1987 | Cayman Systems, Inc. | |
| 98. | Entity.com | November 16, 1987 | Entity Cyber, Inc. | |
| 99. | KSR.com | November 24, 1987 | Kendall Square Research | |
| 100. | NynexST.com | November 30, 1987 | NYNEX Science & Technology |
Source: iwhois (archive)
Registration Dates of Tech Companies .com Domain Names
Many tech companies seized the opportunity to kickstart their online presence by registering their domains shortly after the first domain name was registered. Below is a table that shows the dates of the domain registration dates of those companies.
| Company | Domain Name | Registration Date |
| Apple | Apple.com | February 19, 1987 |
| Microsoft | Microsoft.com | May 2, 1991 |
| Google.com | September 15, 1997 | |
| Amazon | Amazon.com | January 1, 1995 |
| NVIDIA | Nvidia.com | April 20, 1993 |
| Tesla | Tesla.com | 2007 |
| Meta Platforms (Facebook) | Facebook.com | February 4, 2004 |
| Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited | Tsmc.com | April 8, 1993 |
| Tencent | Tencent.com | September 14, 1998 |
| Samsung | Samsung.com | November 29, 1994 |
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How Many .com Domains Are Registered Nowadays?
According to Domain Name Stats, at the time of writing this article, there are 255,850,094 which makes up 36.75% of all registered domains.
Final Word
Symbolics, Inc.’s symbolics.com was the first domain ever registered. It kickstarted the domain name system (DNS) we know today, with thousands of new domain names being registered daily.
If you’re looking to build a website, it’s worth remembering that purchasing a domain name is not enough. Read about the best web hosting and best website builders to make a dream website for your personal needs or your business.
Next Steps: What Now
- Learn more about domain names: A domain name is a human-readable web address used to locate websites or resources on the internet, like “example.com”
- Learn how to set up a domain name and web hosting
- Inform yourself about the best hosting services to choose from.
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