Mmastodon TechnologyInternet first seen 23 h ago, last 15 h ago, peak #3
CERN's first website still ships without a charset declaration
Original: The first website ever is still winging it. The original CERN page ships no charset declaration. Your browser has been g
The original CERN web page, published in 1991, still lacks a character encoding declaration, so browsers have been guessing its encoding for over three decades without issue. Web developers are noting it is far from unique: measurements from the cl0q index suggest nearly three in ten indexed pages also skip the charset declaration, and the page is being shared as a fun reminder of the early web's informal standards.
Why now: Developers find it amusing and notable that the founding document of the web still works fine while violating a basic modern best practice.
Evidence
- The first website ever is still winging it. The original CERN page ships no charset declaration. Your browser has been guessing since 1991 and it's fine. It's not alone. Nearly 3 in 10 pages in cl0q's index skip it too. cl0q.com/site/info.ce... #webdev #retro #internet… · cl0qsearch.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy · 2
API: https://socialmediatrends-api.osmike.com/v1/trends/2155124