World Wide Web Inventor Knighted By Queen Elizabeth II

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web and Director of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was dubbed a Knight Commander, Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II during an Investiture in London on Friday, 16 July 2004. The rank of Knight Commander is the second most senior rank of the Order of the British Empire, one of the Orders of Chivalry.

Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, KBE, 49, a British citizen who lives in the United States, was knighted in recognition for his "services to the global development of the Internet" through his invention of the World Wide Web, a system to organize, link, and browse Internet pages.He coined the name "World Wide Web," wrote the first World Wide Web server, "httpd," and the first client program (a browser and editor), "WorldWideWeb," in October 1990. He wrote the first version of the document formatting language with the capability for hypertext links, known as HTML (HyperText Markup Language). His initial specifications for URIs, HTTP, and HTML were refined and discussed in larger circles as Web technology spread.

During the hour-long ceremony held in the Ballroom at Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth dubbed Sir Timothy Berners-Lee Knight Commander, using the sword that belonged to her father, King George VI. He was previously honored in 2002 at Buckingham Palace by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who awarded him the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of the Arts."I am humbled by this great honor," stated Sir Timothy. "The Web came about through an ongoing collaboration with my fellow inventors and developers worldwide. Everyone in the Internet community should be recognized by this honor."He continued, "The Web must remain a universal medium, open to all and not biasing the information it conveys. As the technology becomes ever more powerful and available, using more kinds of devices, I hope we learn how to use it as a medium for working together, and resolving misunderstandings on every scale."