From "Unix Network Programing", W. Richard Stevens, 1990

A History of Unix Networking

The first Unix network application was UUCP, the Unix-to-Unix copy
program, and all its associated commands. UUCP was developed around
1976 and its first major release outside AT&T was with Version 7 
Unix in 1978.

...

In September 1980 Bolt, Beranek, and Newman (BBN) was contracted
by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the
Department of Defense (DoD) to develop an implementation of the
TCP/IP protocols for Berkeley Unix on the VAX. A version for the
4.1BSD was turned over to Berkeley in the Fall of 1981. This was
then integrated by Berkeley into the 4.2BSD system that was being
developed. The 4.2BSD system was released in August 1983...

My own words (paraphrase from the DDN protocol handbook):

DARPA first developed computer network in 1969 (Yes, they INVENTED
the internet). Before that computers didn't talk to each other.
Around 1982, DoD directed that the Defense Data Network (DDN) be
created based on ARPANET technology and TCP/IP protocols. In 1983
the network was split into ARPANET and MILNET, and ARPANET has
since grown into the internet.

The original ARPANET machines were separate boxes from the 
mainframes that they routed packets for. Basically, they were
protocol translators. IIRC they were based on PDP-10s, but I
wouldn't bet money on it.

clint

On Wed, 7 Mar 2001, Johnny Billquist wrote:

> On Wed, 7 Mar 101, Jochen Kunz wrote:
> 
> [...]
> 
> > > 7.  Could a VAX in 1994 be hooked up to the Internet?
> > Ahhh, the Internet was developed on VAXen! OK, the TCP/IP protocoll what
> > is the bais of the Internet was mainly developed on VAXen using BSD UNIX.
> > And back that time BSD UNIX was developed on VAXen. Therefore the close
> > relationship between VAXen, BSD UNIX and TCP/IP networking. 
> 
> Have to disagree with you here. Unix was a latecomer in TCP/IP. Try
> PDP-10 for an earlier machine...
> But later day TCP/IP development was indeed done on VAXen running BSD.
> Early Unix networking means uucp. :-)
> 
> 	Johnny
> 
> Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
>                                   ||  on a psychedelic trip
> email: bqt@update.uu.se           ||  Reading murder books
> pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
> 
> 
>