European .Net Domain Older Than .Com – The Real Oldest Domain Names
December 23, 6 Comments
Given the recent PCWorld article on the Internets Oldest 100 Domain Dot Com Domain Names, I thought I’d bring up a little known fact that is often overlooked by many people. Symbolics.com might be the oldest currently registered dot com, but its not the oldest domain. In fact, there is a .NET that’s older.
According to whois, Nordu.Net was registered on Jan 1, 1985. Don’t believe it? Well…as a nice little Christmas present, I’ve included a PDF version of a hardcover book titled The History of Nordu.Net. Consider it bedtime reading for Internet / networking geeks.
I’d also note another interesting bit of information. RFC 921 states on 15 Jan 85 under “Begin New Domain Registration” -”New domains may register according to the procedures and restrictions described in RFC-920 [5].” Perhaps they didn’t ask the Europeans?
This is how the list should look – the top 5 currently registered, oldest domain names are:
1. Nordu.Net – Jan 1, 1985
2. Symbolics.com – March 15, 1985
3. BBN.com – April 24, 1985
4. Think.com – May 24, 1985
5. MCC.com – July 11, 1985
If you know of any older domain names please let me know and I will update the list.
