The Internet evolved over several phases: (1) It began in the 1950s as a military network called ARPANET to enable communication if parts of the network were destroyed. (2) In the 1970s, TCP/IP protocols were developed to allow interconnected networks. (3) The 1990s brought the World Wide Web and browsers, making the Internet accessible to the general public. The Internet then entered a commercial phase with widespread adoption in the late 1990s.