February 20, 2026
Double‑click into the drama
CERN rebuilt the original browser from 1989
CERN resurrects the first web browser — nostalgia vs “fake” fight erupts
TLDR: CERN rebuilt the very first web browser inside today’s web so anyone can experience the early internet. Fans are delighted, but purists cry “imitation,” historians argue over who was first, and jokers want links to the 1989 internet—turning a nostalgia trip into a full‑blown authenticity debate.
CERN just let you time-travel online by rebuilding Tim Berners‑Lee’s first web browser, WorldWideWeb, inside your current browser. Click here and yes, you literally have to double‑click like it’s 1989. The crowd? Split between wide‑eyed nostalgia and purist outrage.
The feel‑good camp is giddy, dropping direct links and reminiscing about simpler clicks. One confused fan even admitted they always thought Lynx — the text‑only browser — came first, only to have the timeline untangled in the replies. Meanwhile, the hot take brigade storms in: one critic insists this is just a JavaScript theme park ride, not a “real” rebuild, and argues CERN should have used the original code and modern open‑source tools, even pointing to a GitHub mirror. Cue the authenticity brawl: museum exhibit or cosplay?
Adding spice, a history buff claims the first graphical browser credit should go to Erwise, a Finnish student project linked with Berners‑Lee, lamenting it died for lack of funding. And the jokesters? They want all links to magically point to the 1989 internet instead of today’s “Not Found” errors. In short: nostalgia is strong, but the comments are even stronger — part history lesson, part code critique, all drama.
Key Points
- •CERN rebuilt the original WorldWideWeb browser in February 2019 within a modern browser to mark its 30th anniversary.
- •WorldWideWeb, developed in December 1990 on a NeXT machine at CERN, is considered the precursor to today’s web.
- •The project was supported by the US Mission in Geneva through the CERN & Society Foundation.
- •Users can launch the recreated browser, open URLs via a “full document reference,” and must double-click links.
- •The site includes historical context, a timeline, usage instructions, typography details, original code insights, production notes, related links, and a colophon.