In 1978, the first Computer Bulletin Board System (BBS) went online.
The first BBS went online in the suburban Chicago home of Walt Christensen. It operated on a North Star Horizon 4 Mhz CP/M computer with a 5 MB hard drive and a 110 Bps modem. Christensen had to physically answer the phone and put the receiver into the modem’s acoustic cups.
Learn more at http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/carlson/history/bbs.htm