did-you-kno:

The US government invented the
Internet as a defense weapon against
the Soviets during the Cold War. In
the 1960s, the US military feared the
Soviet Union was becoming more
technologically advanced, so they
developed a new communication
system called ‘ARPAnet’ that could
transfer information, help prevent
nuclear attacks, and act as a means
of communication if the telephone
lines were destroyed by Soviet missiles. Source Source 2