History of email

The first electrical transmission of messages began in the 19th century in the form of the electrical telegraph, which started to replace earlier forms of telegraphy from the 1840s in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Telex became an operational teleprinter service in 1933, beginning in Germany and Europe, and after 1945 spread around the world.

{{cite journal

| last1 = Roemisch

| first1 = Rudolf

| title = Siemens EDS System in Service in Europe and Overseas

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=P2RVAAAAYAAJ

| journal = Siemens Review

| publisher = Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG

| date = 1978

| volume = 45

| issue = 4

| page = 176

| access-date = 2016-02-04

}}

The AUTODIN military network in the United States, first operational in 1962, provided a message service between 1,350 terminals, handling 30 million messages per month, with an average message length of approximately 3,000 characters.{{cite book|author=National Research Council|chapter=Chapter IV: Systems|chapter-url=https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/19976/chapter/6|title=Electronic Message Systems for the U.S. Postal Service|url=https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/19976/electronic-message-systems-for-the-us-postal-service-a-report|publisher=The National Academies Press|location=Washington, D.C.|date=1976|pages=27–35|doi=10.17226/19976|isbn=978-0-309-33501-0|access-date=2022-04-18|archive-date=2022-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418203840/https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/19976/electronic-message-systems-for-the-us-postal-service-a-report|url-status=live}} By 1968, AUTODIN linked more than 300 sites in several countries.

The term mail in the context of messages between computer users has been in use since the 1960s. In RFCs relating to the ARPANET, network mail was used since 1973.{{cite IETF|rfc=469|date=8 March 1973|title=Network Mail Meeting Summary}}{{cite IETF|rfc=561|date=5 September 1973|title=Standardizing Network Mail Headers}}

Historically, the term electronic mail is any electronic document transmission. For example, several writers in the early 1970s used the term to refer to fax document transmission.{{cite magazine|first=Ron|last=Brown|title=Fax invades the mail market|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ry64sjvOmLkC&pg=PA218|magazine=New Scientist|volume=56|issue=817|publisher=New Scientist Ltd.|location=London, England|date=October 26, 1972|pages=218–221|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509050238/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ry64sjvOmLkC&pg=PA218 |archive-date=May 9, 2016|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|first=Herbert P.|last=Luckett|title=What's News: Electronic-mail delivery gets started|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cKSqa8u3EIoC&pg=PA85|magazine=Popular Science|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|location=Harlan, Iowa|volume=202|issue=3|date=March 1973|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430021738/https://books.google.com/books?id=cKSqa8u3EIoC&pg=PA85 |archive-date=April 30, 2016|page=85}} The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has a first quotation for electronic mail in the modern context in 1975.{{Cite web |title=Appeals: email |url=https://public.oed.com/appeals/email/ |access-date=2022-04-17 |website=Oxford English Dictionary |language=en |archive-date=2023-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406100025/https://public.oed.com/appeals/email/ |url-status=dead }} Electronic mail was widely discussed in the late 1970s, but was usually shortened simply to mail.{{Cite web |title=Did V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai Invent Email? {{!}} SIGCIS |url=https://www.sigcis.org/ayyadurai |access-date=2020-09-05 |website=www.sigcis.org |archive-date=2022-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417130400/https://www.sigcis.org/Ayyadurai |url-status=live }} In September 1976, a Business Week article entitled When interoffice mail goes electronic remarked "In a sense, electronic mail is not new".{{Cite web |date=May 22, 2019 |author=Mike Masnick |title=Laying Out All The Evidence: Shiva Ayyadurai Did Not Invent Email |url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190518/23370542236/laying-out-all-evidence-shiva-ayyadurai-did-not-invent-email.shtml |access-date=2020-09-05 |website=Techdirt |archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127173452/https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190518/23370542236/laying-out-all-evidence-shiva-ayyadurai-did-not-invent-email.shtml |url-status=live }}

The OED provides a June 1979 first usage for E-mail: "Postal Service pushes ahead with E-mail" in the journal Electronics. No earlier usage has been found; although, the first usage of the term e-mail may be lost.{{Cite news |date=July 28, 2015 |title=Why the first use of the word 'e-mail' may be lost forever |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/07/28/why-the-first-use-of-the-word-e-mail-may-be-lost-forever/ |access-date=2022-04-17 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=2023-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407131904/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/07/28/why-the-first-use-of-the-word-e-mail-may-be-lost-forever/ |url-status=live }} CompuServe rebranded its electronic mail service as EMAIL in April 1981, which popularized the term. The term computer mail was also used in the early 1980s.{{cite IETF|rfc=733|date=21 November 1977|title=Standard for the Format of ARPA Network Text Messages}}{{cite web |last=Brotz |first=Douglas K. |date=May 1981 |title=Laurel Manual |url=http://xeroxalto.computerhistory.org/Indigo/DMS/Laurel/6/Manual/.Laurel6.press!1.pdf |publisher=Xerox |access-date=2022-04-17 |archive-date=2019-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823031609/http://xeroxalto.computerhistory.org/Indigo/DMS/Laurel/6/Manual/.Laurel6.press!1.pdf |url-status=live }}

The June 1979 usage of E-mail referred to the United States Postal Service (USPS) project called Electronic Computer Originated Mail, which they abbreviated E-COM. USPS began looking into electronic mail in 1977 resulting in the E-COM proposal in September 1978. The service launched in 1982, allowing corporate customers to send electronic mail to a post office branch from where it was printed and delivered in the normal way. It operated until 1985.{{Cite web |date=1985-02-12 |title=The Last Dinosaur: The U.S. Postal Service |url=https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/last-dinosaur-us-postal-service |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=Cato Institute |archive-date=2022-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418195038/https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/last-dinosaur-us-postal-service |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=USPS Historian |date=July 2008 |title=E-COM, Electronic Computer Originated Mail |url=https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/pdf/ecom.pdf |access-date=2022-04-17 |archive-date=2022-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319163356/https://about.usps.com/who/profile/history/pdf/ecom.pdf |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |title=The Post Office Almost Delivered Your First E-Mail |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-usps-email/ |access-date=2022-04-17 |archive-date=2021-08-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828171441/https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-usps-email/ |url-status=live }}

With the introduction of MIT's Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) in 1961,{{cite web|title=CTSS, Compatible Time-Sharing System|url=http://www.cis.usouthal.edu/faculty/daigle/project1/ctss.htm|work=Milestones in Computer Development|author=Roy J. Daigle, Ph. D.|access-date=September 4, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061029152522/http://www.cis.usouthal.edu/faculty/daigle/project1/ctss.htm|archive-date=October 29, 2006|url-status=live}} for the first time multiple users could log into a central system{{Refn|an IBM 7094|group=nb}} from remote terminals, and store and share files on the central disk.{{cite web|author=Tom Van Vleck|author-link=Tom Van Vleck|title=The IBM 7094 and CTSS|access-date=September 10, 2004|website=Multicians.org|url=http://www.multicians.org/thvv/7094.html|archive-date=April 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429054318/http://www.multicians.org/thvv/7094.html|url-status=live}} Informal methods of using such shared files to pass messages were soon developed and expanded into the first mail systems.

• 1962
• The 1440/1460 Administrative Terminal System was able to exchange messages between terminals.{{cite book

|title = 1440/1460 Administrative Terminal System (1440-CX-07X and 1460-CX-08X) Application Description

|version = Second Edition

|publisher = IBM

|url = http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/1440/H20-0129-1_1440_admTermSys.pdf

|id = H20-0129-1

|page = 10

|mode = cs2

|access-date = 2022-04-18

|archive-date = 2022-11-02

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221102162817/http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/1440/H20-0129-1_1440_admTermSys.pdf

|url-status = live

}}

• 1965
• MIT's CTSS "MAIL" command was proposed by Pat Crisman, Glenda Schroeder, and Louis Pouzin, then implemented by Tom Van Vleck and Noel Morris.{{cite web|url=http://www.multicians.org/thvv/mail-history.html|title=The History of Electronic Mail|author=Tom Van Vleck|access-date=2017-11-28|archive-date=2017-12-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202025034/http://www.multicians.org/thvv/mail-history.html|url-status=live}} Each user's messages would be added to a local file called "MAIL BOX", which would have a "private" mode so that only the owner could read or delete messages. The proposed uses of the system were for communication from CTSS to notify users that files had been backed up, discussion between authors of CTSS commands, and communication from command authors to the CTSS manual editor. Developers of other early systems subsequently developed similar mail applications.
• 1968
• ATS/360.{{cite book

| title = System/360 Administrative Terminal System DOS (ATS/DOS) Program Description Manual

| publisher = IBM

| id = H20-0508

|mode=cs2

}}{{cite book

| title = System/360 Administrative Terminal System-OS (ATS/OS) Application Description Manual

| publisher = IBM

| id = H20-0297

|mode=cs2

}}

• 1971
• SNDMSG, a local inter-user mail program developed by Ray Tomlinson, incorporating the experimental file transfer program, CPYNET, allowed the first networked electronic mail over the ARPANET.{{cite book|last1=Elliott|first1=Geoffrey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qGfzMlfgzEcC&pg=PA425|title=Global business information technology : an integrated systems approach|date=2004|publisher=Financial Times Prentice Hall|isbn=9780321270122|page=425|access-date=2021-12-10|archive-date=2022-04-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411195142/https://books.google.com/books?id=qGfzMlfgzEcC&pg=PA425|url-status=live}}{{cite web |first=Ray |last=Tomlinson |url=http://openmap.bbn.com/~tomlinso/ray/firstemailframe.html |title=The First Network Email |website=Openmap.bbn.com |access-date=2014-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209064041/http://openmap.bbn.com/~tomlinso/ray/firstemailframe.html |archive-date=2014-02-09}} The addresses contained the '@' character as a separator between local part and host.
• 1972
• The Unix mail program enabled users to write mails and send them to mailboxes of other Unix users.{{cite web |url=http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V3/man/man1/mail.1 |title=Version 3 Unix mail(1) manual page from 10/25/1972 |publisher=Minnie.tuhs.org |accessdate=2014-01-09 |archive-date=2018-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317055811/http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V3/man/man1/mail.1 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V6/usr/man/man1/mail.1 |title=Version 6 Unix mail(1) manual page from 2/21/1975 |publisher=Minnie.tuhs.org |accessdate=2014-01-09 |archive-date=2019-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714065502/https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/utree.pl?file=V6/usr/man/man1/mail.1 |url-status=live }} Furthermore, it helped managing the mailbox of the current user.
• APL Mailbox, by Larry Breed of STSC, aimed at being a more robust mail software than a predecessor written in 1971.{{cite web|url=http://www.jsoftware.com/papers/APLQA.htm#666box|title=Leslie Goldsmith's story of the Mailbox|work=APL Quotations and Anecdotes|author=Leslie Goldsmith|access-date=2022-04-18|archive-date=2020-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509235705/https://www.jsoftware.com/papers/APLQA.htm#666box|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.actewagl.com.au/Education/communications/Internet/historyOfTheInternet/InternetOnItsInfancy.aspx|title=Home > Communications > The Internet > History of the internet > Internet in its infancy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227151622/http://www.actewagl.com.au/Education/communications/Internet/historyOfTheInternet/InternetOnItsInfancy.aspx| archive-date=2011-02-27 |url-status=dead |work=actewagl.com.au |accessdate=2016-11-03}}{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjgkhK-nXmk | title=The STSC Story: It's About Time |date=c. 1979 |editor=Catherine Lathwell |publisher=Scientific Time Sharing Corporation |minutes=7:08 |accessdate=2017-01-06 }} Promotional video for Scientific Time Sharing Corporation, which features President Jimmy Carter's press secretary Jody Powell explaining how the company's "APLplus Mailbox" Message Processing System enabled the 1976 Carter presidential campaign to easily move information around the country to coordinate the campaign.{{rp|26,29}}
• IBM developed a primitive in-house system for office automation over the period 1970–1972.{{cite journal |last1=Gardner |first1=P. C. |year=1981 |title=A system for the automated office environment |journal=IBM Systems Journal |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=321–345 |doi=10.1147/sj.203.0321 |issn=0018-8670}}{{rp|321–323}} {{Cite web |title=The History of Electronic Mail |url=https://multicians.org/thvv/mail-history.html |access-date=2022-04-20 |website=multicians.org |archive-date=2022-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427205257/https://www.multicians.org/thvv/mail-history.html |url-status=live }}
• 1973
• 666 BOX, by Leslie Goldsmith of I. P. Sharp Associates, a reimplementation of APL Mailbox.
• 1974
• August - The PLATO IV Notes on-line message board system was generalized to offer "personal notes".{{cite web|author=David Wooley|url=http://just.thinkofit.com/plato-the-emergence-of-online-community/#pnotes|title=PLATO: The Emergence of an Online Community|at=Personal Notes|date=January 10, 1994|access-date=April 18, 2022|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206234959/http://just.thinkofit.com/plato-the-emergence-of-online-community/#pnotes|url-status=live}}
• October - IBM OFS (Office System), proving mail transfer between individuals, was first installed as a replacement for their earlier in-house office automation system.{{rp|327–332}}
• 1978
• CompuServe offered electronic mail, designed primarily for intraoffice memos, as part of their corporate Infoplex service.{{cite magazine |author=Connie Winkler |date=October 22, 1979 |title=CompuServe pins hopes on MicroNET, InfoPlex |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChMAmfS1nEkC&dq=compuserve+Infoplex+1979&pg=PA69 |magazine=Computerworld |volume=13 |issue=42 |page=69}}
• Mail client written by Kurt Shoens for Unix and distributed with the Second Berkeley Software Distribution included support for aliases and distribution lists, forwarding, formatting messages, and accessing different mailboxes.The Mail Reference Manual, Kurt Shoens, University of California, Berkeley, 1979. It used the Unix mail client to send messages between system users. The concept was extended to communicate remotely over the Berkeley Network.{{cite tech report|title=An Introduction to the Berkeley Network|url=https://maibriz.de/unix/ultrix/berknet/netintro.pdf|first=Eric |last=Schmidt |author-link=Eric Schmidt |date=May 1979 |institution=Computer Science Division, University of California at Berkeley }}
• Computerized Bulletin Board System (CBBS) was a public dial-up BBS.
• 1979
• ARPANET delivermail, the predecessor of sendmail, was shipped with 4.0 and 4.1 BSD.
• MH Message Handling System developed at The RAND Corporation provided several tools for managing electronic mail on Unix.A Mail Handling System, Bruce Borden, The RAND Corporation, 1979.
• September 24 - CompuServe launched a dialup service labelled MicroNET which offered electronic mail.{{cite magazine |author=Dylan Tweney |date=September 24, 1979 |title=Sept. 24, 1979: First Online Service for Consumers Debuts |url=https://www.wired.com/2009/09/0924compuserve-launches/ |magazine=Wired}}
• 1980
• July - Minitel experimental service launched in France, enabled users to have a mail box. Introduced commercially throughout France in 1982.
• Wang Laboratories introduced its Integrated Information Systems line, incorporating the ability to attach digitised voice messages.{{Cite magazine|last=Hoard|first=Bruce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-tNb_j8ivU0C&dq=wang+labs+1981+voice+messaging++Integrated+Information+Systems+line&pg=RA1-PA53|title=Voice Seen Top Communications Form|magazine=Computerworld|volume=16|issue=13|date=1982-03-29|publisher=IDG Enterprise|language=en}}{{Cite journal|last=Haigh|first=Thomas|date=2006|title=Remembering the Office of the Future: The Origins of Word Processing and Office Automation|url=https://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom2/Writing/Annals2006WP.pdf|journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing|volume=28|issue=4|pages=6–31|doi=10.1109/MAHC.2006.70|s2cid=11270328|access-date=2022-07-18|archive-date=2022-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417130541/https://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom2/Writing/Annals2006WP.pdf|url-status=live}}
• 1981
• April 1 - CompuServe rebranded its electronic mail service as EMAIL. A US trademark application (USPTO SN:73432146) was filed on June 27, 1983, but abandoned in August 1984.{{Cite web |title=Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) - 73432146[SN] |url=http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/jumpto?f=doc&state=4809:mi1z1y.4.735 |access-date=2020-09-05 |website=tmsearch.uspto.gov}}
• IBM PROFS, the predecessor of OfficeVision/VM, is released, incorporating a centralised virtual machine to manage mail transfer between individuals.{{Cite web |date=2020-08-02 |title=IBM100 - The Networked Business Place |website=IBM |url=https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/networkbus/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802211021/https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/networkbus/ |archive-date=2020-08-02 |access-date=2020-09-07 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=Robin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6mffAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |title=The New Rules of Retail: Competing in the World's Toughest Marketplace |last2=Dart |first2=Michael |date=2014-08-12 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-137-48089-7 |language=en |access-date=2022-04-20 |archive-date=2023-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306013159/https://books.google.com/books?id=6mffAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |url-status=live }} Before that it was a PRPQ (Programming Request for Price Quotation), an IBM administrative term for non-standard software offerings with unique features, support and pricing.{{rp|321}}By this year it had 500 users.{{rp|340}}
• 1982
• April - HPMAIL by Hewlett-Packard went on sale. Later developed into HP DeskManager, this became the world's largest selling email system.{{cite web|url=http://www.hpmuseum.net/divisions.php?did=10|title=HP Computer Museum|access-date=2017-11-28|archive-date=2016-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909011243/http://www.hpmuseum.net/divisions.php?did=10|url-status=live}}
• May - ALL-IN-1 by Digital Equipment Corporation, an office automation system including functionality in electronic messaging, was released.{{cite web |date=1998-01-30 |title=1982 Timeline |url=https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/Digital/timeline/1982.htm |accessdate=2014-01-09 |work=DIGITAL Computing Timeline |archive-date=2014-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141122115220/http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/Digital/timeline/1982.htm |url-status=live }} Development work began in 1977.{{cite web |date=1998-01-30 |work=DIGITAL Computing Timeline |url=https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/Digital/timeline/1982-4.htm |title=ALL-IN-1 |access-date=2022-04-18 |archive-date=2017-01-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103002807/http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/Digital/timeline/1982-4.htm |url-status=live }} In-house electronic mail was in use at DEC prior to the commercial release of ALL-IN-1.
• 1984
• FidoNet is released, creating a network of connected email-accepting and -forwarding bulletin boards.
• Prestel Mailbox service launched, offering private messaging, on the UK Viewdata service.{{Cite web|title=How to Send an Email in 1984|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-to-send-an-email-in-1984/|access-date=2021-09-25|website=Vice.com|date=13 March 2016 |language=en|archive-date=2021-09-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925072224/https://www.vice.com/en/article/9a3a7d/how-to-send-an-email-in-1984|url-status=live}} The Duke of Edinburgh's account would be hacked within months of launch; the resulting legal case helped to define computer misuse laws in the UK and around the world.{{Cite news|date=2016-05-19|title=Archive of historic BT 'email' hack preserved|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36306419|access-date=2021-09-25|archive-date=2021-09-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925072702/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36306419|url-status=live}}
• 1994
• Mar 9 - PTG MAIL-DAEMON, the first experimental Webmail services, is made available at CERN, by Phillip Hallam-Baker.{{cite newsgroup |last=Hallam-Baker |first=Phillip |author-link=Phillip Hallam-Baker |date=1994-03-09 |df=mdy |title=Announcing alpha test of PTG MAIL-DAEMON server |url=https://groups.google.com/g/comp.archives/c/vpWqUAmg8xU/m/B8bHirYC7EUJ|access-date=2022-03-22 |newsgroup=comp.archives |website=Google Groups}}

File:Timesharing and Development KA-10s at BBN, circa 1970.jpg computers at BBN Technologies in 1971, connected only through the ARPANET.]]

To facilitate electronic mail exchange between remote sites and with other organizations, telecommunication links, such as dialup modems or leased lines, provided means to transport email globally, creating local and global networks. This was challenging for a number of reasons, including the widely different email address formats in use.

• In 1971 the first message was sent between two computers on the ARPANET. Through {{IETF RFC|561}}, {{IETF RFC|680}}, {{IETF RFC|724}}, and finally 1977's {{IETF RFC|733}}, this became a standardized working system based on the File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
• PLATO IV was networked to individual terminals over leased data lines prior to the implementation of personal notes in 1974.
• IBM VNET was deployed by 1975, using BSC to communicate among CP-67 and VM hosts running RSCS.
• Unix mail was networked by 1978's UUCP,{{cite web |url=http://cm.bell-labs.com/7thEdMan/vol2/uucp.bun |title=Version 7 Unix manual: "UUCP Implementation Description" by D. A. Nowitz, and "A Dial-Up Network of UNIX Systems" by D. A. Nowitz and M. E. Lesk |accessdate=2014-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515172539/http://cm.bell-labs.com/7thEdMan/vol2/uucp.bun |archive-date=2008-05-15 |url-status=dead }} which was also used for USENET newsgroup postings, with similar headers.
• BerkNet, the Berkeley Network, was written by Eric Schmidt in 1978 and included first in the Second Berkeley Software Distribution. It provided support for sending and receiving messages over serial communication links. The Unix mail tool was extended to send messages using Berknet.
• Telenet's Telemail.{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Vinton G. Cerf : An Oral History |url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/oral-history/catalog/pj259nj7501 |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=Stanford Oral History Collections - Spotlight at Stanford |pages=118–120 |language=en}}
• Tymnet's OnTyme.
• The delivermail tool, written by Eric Allman in 1979 and 1980 (and shipped in 4BSD), provided support for routing mail over dissimilar networks, including Arpanet, UUCP, and BerkNet. (It also provided support for mail user aliases.)Setting up the Fourth Berkeley Software Tape, William N. Joy, Ozalp Babaoglu, Keith Sklower, University of California, Berkeley, 1980.
• The mail client included in 4BSD (1980) was extended to provide interoperability between a variety of mail systems.Mail(1), UNIX Programmer's Manual, 4BSD, University of California, Berkeley, 1980.
• BITNET (1981) provided electronic mail services for educational institutions. It was based on the IBM VNET email system.{{cite web|url=https://livinginternet.com/u/ui_bitnet.htm|title=BITNET History|website=livinginternet.com|access-date=2022-04-18|archive-date=2022-04-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419180244/https://www.livinginternet.com/u/ui_bitnet.htm|url-status=live}}
• 1983 – MCI Mail Operated by MCI Communications Corporation. It also allowed subscribers to send telex messages and regular postal mail (overnight) to non-subscribers."MCI Mail", MCI Mail
• In 1984, IBM PCs running DOS could link with FidoNet for email and shared bulletin board posting.
• Several companies established electronic mail services in the United Kingdom during the 1970s and early 1980s, enabling subscribers to send email either internally within a company network or over telephone connections or data networks such as Packet Switch Stream.{{Cite thesis |last=Rutter |first=Dorian |title=From Diversity to Convergence: British Computer Networks and the Internet, 1970-1995 |date=2005 |degree=Computer Science |publisher=The University of Warwick |url=http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/1197/1/WRAP_THESIS_Rutter_2005.pdf |access-date=2022-12-23 |archive-date=2022-10-10 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/1197/1/WRAP_THESIS_Rutter_2005.pdf |url-status=live }}{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMLisXAYl5kC&pg=RA1-PA61|title=The electronic mail is getting through|author=Barry Fox|magazine=New Scientist|date=1985-10-17|publisher=Reed Business Information|pages=61–64|language=en}}

Early interoperability among independent systems included:

• The Coloured Book protocols ran on academic networks in the United Kingdom from 1975 until 1992.{{Cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Howard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DN-t8MpZ0-wC&pg=PA2 |title=A History of International Research Networking: The People who Made it Happen |last2=Bressan |first2=Beatrice |date=2010-04-26 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-3-527-32710-2 |pages=2–3 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Earnshaw |first1=Rae |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xy7LadoXUVYC&pg=PA42 |title=Digital Convergence – Libraries of the Future |last2=Vince |first2=John |date=2007-09-20 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-84628-903-3 |pages=42 |language=en}}{{Cite journal |date=January 1991 |title=IP |url=http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/ccd/literature/ccd_newsletters/flagship/p012.htm#s2 |url-status=live |journal=FLAGSHIP, Central Computing Department Newsletter |issue=12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213100220/http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/ccd/literature/ccd_newsletters/flagship/p012.htm#s2 |archive-date=2020-02-13 |access-date=2022-04-19}}
• UUCP implementations for Unix systems, initially released in 1979, and later for other operating systems, that only had dial-up communications available.
• CSNET, which began operation in 1981, initially used a purpose-built dial-up protocol, called Phonenet, to provide mail-relay services for non-ARPANET hosts.
• Design issues in the development of international computer mail protocols were explored in the early 1980s.{{Cite journal |last1=Garcia-Luna-Aceves |first1=Jose J. |last2=Kuo |first2=Franklin F. |date=1981-10-01 |title=Design issues of protocols for computer mail |url=https://doi.org/10.1145/1013879.802656 |journal=ACM SIGCOMM Comput. Commun. Rev. |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=28–36 |doi=10.1145/1013879.802656 |issn=0146-4833}}
• The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) protocol was implemented in 1983. It was first proposed by Jon Postel and Suzanne Sluizer in September 1980.
• X.400, published in 1984, was promoted by major vendors, and mandated for government use under GOSIP, but abandoned by all but a few in favor of Internet protocol suite's SMTP by the mid-1990s (see Protocol Wars).{{Cite journal |last1=Campbell-Kelly |first1=Martin |last2=Garcia-Swartz |first2=Daniel D |date=2013 |title=The History of the Internet: The Missing Narratives |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=867087 |journal=Journal of Information Technology |language=en |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=18–33 |doi=10.1057/jit.2013.4 |issn=0268-3962 |s2cid=41013 |ssrn=867087|url-access=subscription }}
• Soft-Switch released its eponymous email gateway product in 1984, acquired by Lotus Software ten years later.{{cite news |author=Glenn Rifkin |date=1994-06-17 |title=Lotus Agrees to Acquire Softswitch |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/17/business/company-news-lotus-agrees-to-acquire-softswitch.html |url-status=live |access-date=2020-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200903115749/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/17/business/company-news-lotus-agrees-to-acquire-softswitch.html |archive-date=2020-09-03}}
• Message Handling System (MHS) protocol developed in 1986. Developed by Action Technologies, this was later bought and promoted by Novell.{{cite magazine |author=Daniel Blum |date=1994-09-19 |title=Delivering the Enterprise Message |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA64 |magazine=Network World}}{{cite web |author=Mark Gibbs |date=1994-03-07 |title=Hot on the LAN |url=http://www.networkworld.com/archive/1994/94-03-07hot_.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330215111/http://www.networkworld.com/archive/1994/94-03-07hot_.html |archive-date=2014-03-30 |website=Network World}}{{cite web |title=MHS: Correct Addressing format to DaVinci Email via MHS |url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/118859 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716174143/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/118859 |archive-date=2012-07-16 |accessdate=2007-01-15 |work=Microsoft Support Knowledge Base}} However they abandoned it after purchasing the non-MHS WordPerfect Office—which they renamed GroupWise.
• HP OpenMail, initially designed in 1987, was known for its ability to interconnect several other APIs and protocols, including MAPI, cc:Mail, SMTP/MIME, and X.400.
• MCI Mail was the first commercial public email service to use the Internet in 1989.{{Cite web |title=Meet Mr. Internet: Vint Cerf - IEEE Spectrum |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/vint-cerf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502132245/https://spectrum.ieee.org/vint-cerf |archive-date=2023-05-02 |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=IEEE |language=en}}

In May 1979, Xerox ran a television advertisement for its 1973 Xerox Alto system, demonstrating the 1978 Distributed Message System (DMS) client, known as Laurel, to the US public.{{Cite web |last=Keene |first=Jamie |date=2012-04-26 |title=Xerox commercial from 1972 shows the computer as your personal assistant |url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/4/26/2976870/xerox-alto-commercial-1972-personal-assistant |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=The Verge |language=en-US |archive-date=2019-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721035137/https://www.theverge.com/2012/4/26/2976870/xerox-alto-commercial-1972-personal-assistant |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=1978 |title=Whole ALTO World Newsletter |pages=5, 93, 94, 287 |work=Xerox |url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/xerox/alto/Whole_ALTO_World_Newsletter_1977-1980.pdf |access-date=2023-05-21 |archive-date=2023-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521052953/http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/xerox/alto/Whole_ALTO_World_Newsletter_1977-1980.pdf |url-status=live }}{{Cite magazine |last=Metz |first=Cade |title=Tech Time Warp of the Week: Xerox PARC Alto, 1979 |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2013/04/tech-time-warp-alto-parc-jobs/ |access-date=2023-05-21 |issn=1059-1028 |archive-date=2023-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230521070407/https://www.wired.com/2013/04/tech-time-warp-alto-parc-jobs/ |url-status=live }} An application Xerox described as replacing Xerox's earlier MSG client for its MAXC document distribution system. In 1981, the Xerox Star went on sale, offering a commercial variant of the Xerox Alto's multi-user virtual office, including computer mail.{{Cite web |title=Xerox 8010 Star Information System |url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1064206 |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=National Museum of American History |language=en |archive-date=2022-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418181057/https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1064206 |url-status=live }} The Star had been in development since 1977 and the development team relied heavily on the technologies they were working on, including electronic mail.{{cite news |last=Ollig |first=Mark |date=October 31, 2011 |title=They could have owned the computer industry |work=Herald Journal |url=http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2011/columns/mo103111.html |access-date=2021-02-26 |archive-date=2021-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227062954/http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2011/columns/mo103111.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last= |date=15 February 2012 |title=Tech before its time: Xerox's shooting Star computer |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328521-800-tech-before-its-time-xeroxs-shooting-star-computer/ |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418181102/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328521-800-tech-before-its-time-xeroxs-shooting-star-computer/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=The Xerox Star |url=http://toastytech.com/guis/star.html |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=toastytech.com |archive-date=2011-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718030555/http://toastytech.com/guis/star.html |url-status=live }}

In the 1980s, networked personal computers on LANs became increasingly important. By 1987 users of Microsoft's internal MS-Net network of about 1600 computers, workstations, and terminals sent 60,000 megabytes of email weekly via Xenix systems.{{Cite magazine |last=Flynn |first=Laurie |date=1987-02-23 |title=Companywide Network A Necessity at Microsoft |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1DAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA17 |access-date=2025-05-21 |magazine=InfoWorld |page=17 |volume=9 |issue=8}} {{as of|1993}} the Xenix mail systems handled 650,000-750,000 messages daily, 4.5GB total or about 30-35 per user, 10-15% to or from outside the company.{{cite web|title=Microsoft's Migration to Microsoft Exchange Server|url=https://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/itsolutions/intranet/build/exchgdep.mspx|work=TechNet|publisher=Microsoft|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050507010335/http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/itsolutions/intranet/build/exchgdep.mspx|archivedate=May 7, 2005}} Server-based systems similar to the earlier mainframe systems were developed. Examples include:

• cc:Mail
• LANtastic
• Banyan VINES (1984)
• Microsoft Mail (1988)
• WordPerfect Office (1988), later rebranded Novell GroupWise
• Lotus Notes (1989)

Eventually these systems could link different organizations as long as each organization ran the same email system and proprietary protocol. Various vendors supplied gateway software to link these incompatible systems.

Experimental message transfers between separate computer systems began on the ARPANET. Ray Tomlinson, of BBN, sent the first message across the network in 1971, initiating the use of the "@" sign to separate the names of the user and the user's machine.{{cite book |last=Lievrouw |first=L. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZ3ktyGA0rwC&q=ARPANET&pg=PA253 |title=Handbook of New Media: Student Edition |date=2006 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=1412918731 |editor-last1=Lievrouw |editor-first1=L. A. |page=253 |access-date=15 August 2015 |editor-last2=Livingstone |editor-first2=S. M.}} He sent a message from one Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-10 computer to another PDP-10. The two machines were placed next to each other.Wave New World, Time Magazine, October 19, 2009, p.48 Tomlinson's work was adopted across the ARPANET, which significantly increased network traffic.{{Cite book |last=Abbate |first=Janet |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44962566 |title=Inventing the Internet |date=2000 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-2625-1115-5 |location=Cambridge, MA |pages=106–111 |oclc=44962566 |author-link=Janet Abbate}} Tomlinson has been called "the inventor of modern email".{{cite web |date=6 March 2016 |title=Ray Tomlinson, Inventor Of Modern Email, Dies |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/03/06/469428062/ray-tomlinson-inventor-of-modern-email-has-died |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013013840/http://www.npr.org/2016/03/06/469428062/ray-tomlinson-inventor-of-modern-email-has-died |archive-date=13 October 2017 |access-date=5 April 2018 |work=NPR.org}}

A "Mail Protocol" was proposed in {{IETF RFC|196}} in July 1971, and a more comprehensive approach in {{IETF RFC|524}} in June 1973, but these were not implemented.{{cite web |author=Tom Van Vleck |author-link=Tom Van Vleck |title=The History of Electronic Mail |url=http://www.multicians.org/thvv/mail-history.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202025034/http://www.multicians.org/thvv/mail-history.html |archive-date=2017-12-02 |access-date=2017-11-28 }}{{Cite report |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reports/2007/R2134.pdf |title=Framework and Functions of the "MS" Personal Message System |last=Crocker |first=David H. |date=December 1977 |publisher=The RAND Corporation |id=R-2134-ARPA}}

In early 1971, Ray Tomlinson updated an existing utility called SNDMSG so that it could copy messages (as files) over the network.{{Cite book |last=Moschovitis |first=Christos J. P |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofinterne0000unse/page/72/mode/2up |title=History of the Internet: a chronology, 1843 to the present |date=1999 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-57607-118-2 |pages=73–4}} In July 1972, Abhay Bhusan, a professor at MIT, was writing the final specs of the ARPANET file-transfer protocol. Upon the suggestion of his colleagues, he added Tomlinson's email programs to the final product.{{Cite web |last=Akkad |first=Jay |title=The History of Email |url=https://sites.cs.ucsb.edu/~almeroth/classes/F04.176A/homework1_good_papers/jay-akkad.html |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=sites.cs.ucsb.edu}} Tomlinson's program was an immediate hit. An ARPA study in 1973, a year after network email was introduced to the ARPANET community, found that three-quarters of the traffic over the ARPANET consisted of email messages.{{Cite book |last1=Hafner |first1=Katie |url=http://archive.org/details/wherewizardsstay00haf_vgj |title=Where wizards stay up late: the origins of the Internet |last2=Lyon |first2=Matthew |date=1996 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-684-81201-4 |location=New York City |page=194 |quote=found that three quarters of all traffic on the ARPANET was email}}{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=P. N. |date=1998 |title=Virtual Machines, Virtual Infrastructures: The New Historiography of Information Technology |url=https://pne.people.si.umich.edu/PDF/isis_review.pdf |publisher=Isis essay review |page=5}}

Lawrence Roberts, the project manager for the ARPANET development, took the idea of READMAIL, which dumped all "recent" messages onto the user's terminal, and wrote a program for TENEX in TECO macros called RD, which permitted access to individual messages.{{cite web |date=1996-05-13 |title=Email History |url=http://www.livinginternet.com/e/ei.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920212327/http://www.livinginternet.com/e/ei.htm |archive-date=2010-09-20 |access-date=2014-01-09 |publisher=Livinginternet.com}} Barry Wessler then updated RD and called it NRD.*{{Cite journal |last=Partridge |first=Craig |date=April–June 2008 |title=The Technical Development of Internet Email |url=http://www.ir.bbn.com/~craig/email.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |location=Berlin |publisher=IEEE Computer Society |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=3–29 |doi=10.1109/mahc.2008.32 |s2cid=206442868 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512165437/http://www.ir.bbn.com/~craig/email.pdf |archive-date=2011-05-12}}

Marty Yonke rewrote NRD to include reading, access to SNDMSG for sending, and a help system, and called the utility WRD, which was later known as BANANARD. John Vittal then updated this version to include three important commands: Move (combined save/delete command), Answer (determined to whom a reply should be sent) and Forward (sent a message to a person who was not already a recipient). The system was called MSG. With inclusion of these features, MSG is considered to be the first integrated modern electronic mail program, from which many other applications have descended.

ARPANET defined conventions from 1973 for dissimilar computers to exchange mail using the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) over a homogeneous network. Two FTP commands, MAIL and MLFL, permitted an FTP user process to deliver a file or string of text to an FTP server process, designating it as mail to be made available to a user, identified by a local name, in its host.

The use of the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for "network mail" was proposed in {{IETF RFC|469}} in March 1973.{{cite IETF|rfc=469|title=Network Mail Meeting Summary}} Through {{IETF RFC|561}}, {{IETF RFC|680}}, {{IETF RFC|724}}, and finally {{IETF RFC|733}} in November 1977, a standardized framework was developed for "electronic mail" using FTP mail servers on the ARPANET.{{Cite news |date=2023-05-20 |title=A history of e-mail: Collaboration, innovation and the birth of a system |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-innovations/a-history-of-e-mail-collaboration-innovation-and-the-birth-of-a-system/2012/03/19/gIQAOeFEPS_story.html |access-date=2024-07-07 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}

Delivermail was introduced in 1979 as a mail transport agent, i.e. email server. It used the FTP protocol to transmit electronic mail messages to the recipient.{{cite book |author=Bryan Costales |title=Sendmail |date=2002 |publisher=O'Reilly Media |edition=3rd |chapter=History |access-date=2022-04-17 |chapter-url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/sendmail-3rd-edition/1565928393/pr03s03.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306013223/https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/sendmail-3rd-edition/1565928393/pr03s03.html |archive-date=2023-03-06 |url-status=live}}

Initially, addresses were of the form, {{var|username}}{{mono|@}}{{var|hostname}}.

Ray Tomlinson discussed network mail among the International Network Working Group in INWG Protocol note 2, written in September 1974.{{Cite journal |last=McKenzie |first=Alexander |date=2011 |title=INWG and the Conception of the Internet: An Eyewitness Account |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=66–71 |doi=10.1109/MAHC.2011.9 |issn=1934-1547 |s2cid=206443072}} INWG discussed protocols for electronic mail in 1979,Barber, D., and J. Laws, "A Basic Mail Scheme for EIN," INWG 192, February 1979. which was referenced by Jon Postel in his early work on Internet email. Postel first proposed an Internet Message Protocol in 1979 as part of the Internet Experiment Note (IEN) series.{{Cite IETF|ien=85}}{{Cite IETF|ien=113}}{{Cite web |title=Internet Experiment Note Index |url=https://www.rfc-editor.org/ien/ien-index.html |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=www.rfc-editor.org}}

In September 1980, Postel and Suzanne Sluizer published {{IETF RFC|772}} which proposed the Mail Transfer Protocol to enable servers to transmit "computer mail" on the ARPANET as a replacement for FTP. {{IETF RFC|780}} of May 1981 removed all references to FTP. In November 1981, Postel published {{IETF RFC|788}} describing the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) protocol, which was updated by {{IETF RFC|821}} in August 1982. Addresses were extended to {{var|username}}{{mono|@}}{{var|host}}{{mono|.}}{{var|domain}} by {{IETF RFC|805}} in February 1982. {{IETF RFC|822}}, written by Dave Crocker, defined the format for messages.

ARPANET switched to TCP/IP on January 1, 1983 and the Internet grew rapidly thereafter (see Protocol Wars). A new mail transfer agent based on SMTP, Sendmail, was introduced in 1983. SMTP use continued to grow on the Internet.

After the introduction of the Domain Name System (DNS) in 1985, mail routing was updated in January 1986 by {{IETF RFC|974}}.

As the influence of the ARPANET spread across academic communities, gateways were developed to pass mail to and from other networks such as CSNET, JANET, BITNET, X.400, and FidoNet. This often involved addresses such as:

:hubhost!middlehost!edgehost!user@uucpgateway.somedomain.example.com

which routes mail to a user with a "bang path" address at a UUCP host.{{cite mailing list |url=https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/irtf-discuss/DWOvH0uMV29sBxZ6rcrZgrQC-ow/ |title=[Internet Policy] Why the World Must Resist Calls to Undermine the Internet |date=20 March 2022 |access-date=24 March 2022 |mailing-list=IETF-Discussion |first=Vint |last=Cerf |author-link=Vint Cerf}}

The Internet community developed two further standards, the Post Office Protocol (POP) and the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), in 1984 and 1988 respectively. POP and IMAP enabled connections with remote e-mail servers that contain users’ mailboxes.

{{Further|Comparison of email clients}}

During the 1980s and 1990s, use of email became common in business, government, universities, and defense/military industries. Starting with the advent of webmail (the web-era form of email) and email clients in the mid-1990s, use of email began to extend to the rest of the public. By the 2000s, email had gained ubiquitous status. The popularity of smartphones since the 2010s has enabled instant access to emails.

Many providers of mail server software emerged in the 1980s with various features.

• Ray Tomlinson is generally recognized as sending the first electronic mail, between two different computers on the ARPANET, in 1971.{{Cite web |title=Official Biography: Raymond Tomlinson {{!}} Internet Hall of Fame |url=https://www.internethalloffame.org/official-biography-raymond-tomlinson |access-date=2020-09-05 |website=www.internethalloffame.org |archive-date=2020-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822115245/https://www.internethalloffame.org/official-biography-raymond-tomlinson |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |title=Email inventor on his legacy |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-35746406 |access-date=2020-09-05 |archive-date=2021-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210706201010/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-35746406 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Ray Tomlinson, creator of modern email, dies |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/ray-tomlinson-creator-modern-email-dies-160307173005254.html |access-date=2020-09-05 |website=www.aljazeera.com |archive-date=2020-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531202440/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/ray-tomlinson-creator-modern-email-dies-160307173005254.html |url-status=live }}
• Sylvia Wilbur, who worked for Peter Kirstein at University College London, was "probably one of the first people in [the United Kingdom] ever to send an email [over the ARPANET], back in 1974".{{citation |last=Abbate |first=Janet |title=Silvia Wilbur |date=April 2001 |url=https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Silvia_Wilbur |work=IEEE History Center Interview #634 |publisher=Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |authorlink=Janet Abbate |access-date=2022-07-18 |archive-date=2022-05-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501162227/https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Silvia_Wilbur |url-status=live }}{{cite journal|last=Kirstein|first=Peter|date=January–March 1999|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/3330677|title=Early experiences with the Arpanet and Internet in the United Kingdom|journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing|publisher=Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers|volume=21|issue=1|pages=38–44|doi=10.1109/85.759368}}
• Queen Elizabeth II sent the first electronic mail from a head of state over the ARPANET from the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment in England on March 26, 1976.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2012/12/queen-and-the-internet/|title=How the Queen of England Beat Everyone to the Internet|last=Metz|first=Cade|date=2012-12-25|magazine=Wired|access-date=2020-01-09|issn=1059-1028}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2002/mar/13/internetnews|title=Email timeline|last=Left|first=Sarah|date=2002-03-13|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-01-09|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=2019-12-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222080910/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2002/mar/13/internetnews|url-status=live}}
• Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign became the first to use electronic mail for internal communications in the autumn of 1976.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/12/when-jimmy-carter-was-the-computer-driven-candidate/282173/|title=When Jimmy Carter Was the Computer-Driven Candidate|last=Franke-Ruta|first=Garance|date=2013-12-09|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-06|archive-date=2020-04-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406192921/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/12/when-jimmy-carter-was-the-computer-driven-candidate/282173/|url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Holuea |first=Josh |title=Computer Tied Carter, Mondale Campaigns |work=The Washington Star |page=A-3 |date=November 21, 1976}}{{rp|50}}
• The first UUCP emails from the U.S. arrived in the UK in 1979 and UUCP email between the UK, the Netherlands and Denmark started in 1980, becoming a regular service via EUnet in 1982, which expanded coverage to Sweden and later France, Germany, Switzerland and other countries in Europe.{{Cite web |last=Houlder |first=Peter |date=19 January 2007 |title=Starting the Commercial Internet in the UK |url=https://www.uknof.org.uk/uknof6/Houlder-History.pdf |access-date=2020-02-12 |website=6th UK Network Operators' Forum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213100236/https://www.uknof.org.uk/uknof6/Houlder-History.pdf |archive-date=2020-02-13 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last=Reid |first=Jim |date=3 April 2007 |title=Networking in UK Academia ~25 Years Ago |url=https://www.uknof.org.uk/uknof7/Reid-History.pdf |access-date=2020-02-12 |website=7th UK Network Operators' Forum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809015421/https://www.uknof.org.uk/uknof7/Reid-History.pdf |archive-date=2020-08-09 |url-status=dead}}
• IBM PROFS email was used by the U.S. National Security Council under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.{{Cite web|title=National Security Archive/White House E-Mail|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/white_house_email/index.html|access-date=2020-11-17|website=nsarchive2.gwu.edu|archive-date=2021-01-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104020432/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/white_house_email/index.html|url-status=live}}
• The first Internet email sent to Germany via CSNET was from Laura Breeden to Michael Rotert and Werner Zorn as a carbon copy at the Technical University of Karlsruhe (today Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) on August 3, 1984.{{Cite web |title=Historic First Email From U.S. to Germany Arrives in 1984 {{!}} Internet Hall of Fame |url=https://www.internethalloffame.org/blog/2013/07/29/historic-first-email-us-germany-arrives-1984 |access-date=2020-04-03 |website=www.internethalloffame.org |date=29 July 2013 |archive-date=2020-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321231316/https://www.internethalloffame.org/blog/2013/07/29/historic-first-email-us-germany-arrives-1984 |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/tech/25-jahre-e-mail-in-deutschland-und-es-hat-pling-gemacht-a-639654.html|title=25 Jahre E-Mail in Deutschland - Und es hat "Pling!" gemacht|magazine=Der Spiegel|date=2009-08-01|language=German|trans-title=25 years of email in Germany - and it went "Pling!"}}
• The first email sent from outer space was August 9, 1991, Space Shuttle mission STS-43.{{Cite web |date=Feb 19, 2012 |title=Macintosh Portable: Used in Space Shuttle |url=https://support.apple.com/kb/TA30635?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619035819/https://support.apple.com/kb/TA30635?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US |archive-date=Jun 19, 2018 |access-date=2022-05-26 |website=support.apple.com}}
• Bill Clinton was the first U.S. president to use Internet email in the 1990s, including a reply to an email from the prime minister of Sweden in 1994.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/03/the-myth-about-bill-clintons-emails/387604/|title=The Truth About Bill Clinton's Emails|last=LaFrance|first=Adrienne|date=2015-03-12|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-09|archive-date=2021-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220160358/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/03/the-myth-about-bill-clintons-emails/387604/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-president-with-regular-email-access/|title=First president with regular email access|website=Guinness World Records|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-01-09|archive-date=2018-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111070239/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-president-with-regular-email-access|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/digital-diplomacy/whats-the-first-ever-presidential-email-324ddcd82fca|title=What's the first ever presidential email?|last=Sandre|first=Andreas|date=2017-11-07|website=Medium|language=en|access-date=2020-01-09|archive-date=2019-11-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117070550/https://medium.com/digital-diplomacy/whats-the-first-ever-presidential-email-324ddcd82fca|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://qz.com/861001/i-sent-the-first-email-between-two-heads-of-state-but-the-new-era-of-connectivity-will-change-the-world/|title=I sent the first email between heads of state—but the real revolution of connectivity is still to come|last=Bildt|first=Carl|website=Quartz|date=13 December 2016|language=en|access-date=2020-01-09|archive-date=2020-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801143547/https://qz.com/861001/i-sent-the-first-email-between-two-heads-of-state-but-the-new-era-of-connectivity-will-change-the-world/|url-status=live}}

• History of email spam
• History of email marketing
• History of Gmail

{{Reflist|group=nb}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary|email|outbox}}

• {{cite web |url=https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2022/08/102806104-05-01-acc.pdf |title=Email Innovation Timeline |publisher=Computer History Museum |first1=Elizabeth |last1=Feinler |authorlink1=Elizabeth J. Feinler |first2=John |last2=Vittal |date=2022-07-01}}
• [https://www.iana.org/assignments/message-headers/perm-headers.html IANA's list of standard header fields]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20121118062543/http://emailhistory.org/ The History of Email] is Dave Crocker's attempt at capturing the sequence of 'significant' occurrences in the evolution of email; a collaborative effort that also cites this page.
• [http://www.multicians.org/thvv/mail-history.html The History of Electronic Mail] is a personal memoir by the implementer of an early email system
• [http://www.circleid.com/posts/20140903_a_look_at_the_origins_of_network_email/ A Look at the Origins of Network Email] is a short, yet vivid recap of the key historical facts
• [https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2015/august/business-e-mail-compromise Business E-Mail Compromise - An Emerging Global Threat], FBI

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Category:Email

Category:Internet terminology

Category:Electronic documents

Category:History of the Internet

Category:Computer-related introductions in 1971