The document defines the internet as a global system of interconnected computer networks that transmit data via packets. It then outlines the evolution of the internet from its origins as the ARPANET in the 1960s developed by US military researchers, to the creation of TCP/IP in the 1970s which allowed different networks to communicate, and the introduction of the world wide web in the 1990s. Finally, it lists some common internet applications including email, file transfer, remote login, news, hypertext, chat, and online shopping.