"You've Got Mail!"
On May 24th, 1985, America Online (AOL) was founded as Quantum Computer Services by Steve Case, Marc Seriff, Jim Kimsey, and William Von Meister. The name of the newly founded company was ultimately changed to America Online in 1989. As the internet became increasingly popular in the early 1990s, AOL's popularity grew, and by 1995, they had about three million active users. By the late 1990s, AOL had become the most recognized brand on the World Wide Web, and had provided over 20 million customers dial-up internet service. They had also pioneered instant messaging and chat rooms through their AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service. In 2001, in the midst of its popularity peak, America Online purchased Time Warner, in what became the largest merger in U.S. history! Following this merger, though, AOL's popularity decreased rapidly due to the decline of dial-up internet and the rise of broadband. Today, AOL is owned by Yahoo! Inc.
