Curiosity English

I wonder why they invented the internet.
Who invented the internet? Evan Andrews
Long before the technology existed to actually build the Internet, many scientists had already anticipated the existence of worldwide networks of information. Nikola Tesla toyed with the idea of a “world wireless system” in the early 1900s, and visionary thinkers like Paul Otlet and Vannevar Bush conceived of mechanized, searchable storage systems of books and media in the 1930s and 1940s. Still, the first practical schematics for the Internet would not arrive until the early 1960s, when MIT’s J.C.R. Licklider popularized the idea of an “Intergalactic Network” of computers. Shortly thereafter, computer scientists developed the concept of “packet switching,” a method for effectively transmitting electronic data that would later become one of the major building blocks of the Internet.

Curiosity English

When did K-pop become popular?

Kpop became a thing in Korea in the early 90s, shortly after South Korea became democratic. A pivotal early performance was by Seo Taiji and the Boys, who mixed hip-hop elements into traditional Korean pop music for the first time. One of their members went on to found YG Entertainment, which has been responsible for some of kpop’s biggest international hits, such as Psy and Big Bang. Kpop has always been popular in Korea since then.

But I’m guessing you’re asking about international popularity. There, Google Trends tells roughly the same story as company revenues or albums. Kpop was basically at zero going into 2007, a purely domestic product with little international interest other than Rain’s occasional appearances on Stephen Colbert. It went on a meteoric rise from 2008–2012, basically doubling in size every year, as a new wave of groups were able to successfully capture audiences in many countries.

Kpop then more or less plateaued from 2013–2014 as the groups that drove the initial wave of expansion began to mature. Many fans at the time thought it had peaked, but it’s since returned to a steady upwards trajectory. A new generation of groups (led by groups such as BTS, EXO, Twice, and Blackpink) have come along that have been able to build on the foundation laid down by the last generation.