On April 22, 1993, a group of students at the University of Illinois released a piece of computer code designed to get information from various public networks.
Little did they know that their pet project, a humble application named Mosaic, would fundamentally change everyday life. While Web browsers with graphical interfaces had traded hands among academics years earlier, Mosaic was the first to be widely adopted and introduce the masses to the Internet.
A decade later, we have yet to assess its full effects on everything from global economics and free speech to holiday shopping and online dating. Coinciding with the anniversary of Mosaic 1.0 next week, this News.com special report offers a historical perspective while examining the new technologies and industries the browser has spawned.