The World Wide Web became available to the broader public 30 years ago : NPR

"But 30 years ago this week, that all changed. On April 30, 1993, something called the World Wide Web launched into the public domain.... CERN owned Berners-Lee's invention..., and the lab had the option to license out the World Wide Web for profit. But Berners-Lee believed that keeping the web as open as possible would help it grow.... Berners-Lee eventually convinced CERN to release the World Wide Web into the public domain without any patents or fees. He has since attributed the runaway success of the web to that single decision...."