Email has become an inseparable part of our daily lives. Yet we rarely stop to think about how it originated, what stages it went through, and what fascinating events marked its development.

Let’s explore some of the most important — and sometimes surprising — milestones in the history of email.

1. The First Email

The creator of the first personal electronic message is considered to be American programmer Raymond Samuel Tomlinson. At the end of 1971, he sent the first email message between two computers.

The content of the message was likely a random sequence of keyboard characters — “QWERTYUIOP.” Tomlinson later admitted that he no longer remembered the exact text.

2. Queen Elizabeth II and Email

On March 26, 1976, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom sent her first email. This occurred during her visit to the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment in Malvern.

A special account — HME2 — was created for her. In later years, she continued to use email and even sent a message signed “Elizabeth R.” to 23 young bloggers in 2009.

3. “Email” or “E-mail”?

Both spellings are technically correct. However, Tomlinson, the inventor of modern email, preferred the hyphenated form “e-mail.”

Over time, the version without the hyphen — “email” — became more widely used, and Google statistics show that it is now the dominant form.

4. What Were Addresses Like Before “@”?

In the early days, email addresses were not as simple as they are today. Messages were routed through several computers and looked something like this:

utzoo!decvax!harpo!...

Each “!” symbol indicated a computer through which the message passed.

5. The Introduction of the “@” Symbol

In 1971, Raymond Tomlinson began using the “@” symbol to separate the user’s name from the computer’s name.

In English, “@” corresponds to the preposition “at,” which simplified the structure of addresses:

patrick@computer1

6. What Do Different Countries Call “@”?

In many languages, the “@” symbol has unique names:

• Snail — Italy, Ukraine

• Monkey — Germany, Poland

• Cat’s tail — Finland

• Cinnamon roll — Norway

• Pickled herring — Czech Republic, Slovakia

7. The First Email from Space

On August 28, 1991, the first email was sent from space. Astronauts Shannon Lucid and James Adamson sent a message to the Johnson Space Center.

At the time, the movie “Terminator 2” was at the height of its popularity.

8. The First Free Email Service

In 1996, Hotmail.com was launched, becoming the first widely used free email service.

It was later acquired by Microsoft and rebranded as Outlook.com.

9. The Most Common Password

In 2009, when over 10,000 Hotmail passwords were leaked, it was revealed that the most common password was “123456.”

This remains a significant cybersecurity issue today.

10. Adding “@” to Morse Code

In 2004, the “@” symbol was officially added to Morse code.

This was the first official change to Morse code since World War I.

11. Early Mailbox Sizes

In the late 1990s, Hotmail and Yahoo provided users with only 4 MB of storage.

Today, that amount is roughly equivalent to just a few images.

12. The Gmail Revolution

On April 1, 2004, Gmail was launched, offering users 1 GB of storage.

This marked a true revolution in the history of email.

13. The First Smiley

On April 12, 1979, Kevin Mackenzie used one of the earliest emoticons in an email:

-)

It was an early attempt to add emotion to electronic text communication.

14. The First Email Standards

The first email standard was proposed in 1973 and officially adopted in ARPANET in 1977.

The foundations of “Reply” and “Forward” functions were established during this period.

15. The Birth of Attachments

In 1992, the MIME protocol was introduced, allowing users to send file attachments along with text messages.

16. “You’ve Got Mail!”

AOL’s famous “You’ve got mail!” notification became part of popular culture.

It even inspired the 1998 romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

17. Mobile Email

In 2007, the launch of the first iPhone brought mobile email to the mainstream.

18. The Simpsons and a Real Email Address

In one episode of “The Simpsons,” Homer Simpson’s email address was shown on screen. Thousands of real emails were sent to it.

The show’s writers initially replied, but the volume quickly became overwhelming.

19. U.S. Presidents and Email

During his presidency, Bill Clinton sent only two emails.

In contrast, Barack Obama actively used email marketing during his campaign and raised hundreds of millions of dollars through email outreach.

20. The ILOVEYOU Virus

In 2000, the “ILOVEYOU” virus spread worldwide, infecting millions of computers and causing billions of dollars in damage.

Once opened, the virus automatically sent itself to all contacts in the user’s Outlook address book.

This incident became a turning point in cybersecurity history and was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Conclusion

Email is not just a communication tool.

It is:

• A pillar of the digital communication revolution

• An essential part of business, politics, and personal life

• A symbol of rapid technological development

And it appears that email will remain part of our lives for many years to come. ?✨