Happy Birthday, Internet!

We’re celebrating with animated gifs that remind us of Boston.

The internet is a wonderful and terrifying place, and today is its birthday. On October 29, 1969 at 10:30 p.m., the first message between computers was sent from UCLA to Stanford, and the internet was born.

Break out the party hats, head to the Internet Cat Video Festival at Berklee today, and throw back to some retro animated gifs.

Regardless of how you pronounce them, gifs are not new to the internet. The mid-90s and early 2000s were a time of plentiful (and beautiful) animated gifs, so we’ve rounded up a few that nod to Boston for nostalgia’s sake.

 

Animated Gif Lighthouses (26)

It resembles Boston Light, no?

 

Animated-Flag-Massachusetts

The windy effect is necessary.

 

boston colleges dip

Boston doles out thousands of these a year.

 

tea kettle

 

 

 

We’re pretty sure this is the Tea Kettle hanging above Starbucks in Government Center.

 

allston rat

An accurate depiction of Allston rats.

 

snow road sign

And a comical version of a Boston road sign in winter.