What a fun list. Spotted via Threadwatch, the 100 oldest domains. The Top Ten:
1. 15-Mar-1985 SYMBOLICS.COM
2. 24-Apr-1985 BBN.COM
3. 24-May-1985 THINK.COM
4. 11-Jul-1985 MCC.COM
5. 30-Sep-1985 DEC.COM
6. 07-Nov-1985 NORTHROP.COM
7. 09-Jan-1986 XEROX.COM
8. 17-Jan-1986 SRI.COM
9. 03-Mar-1986 HP.COM
10. 05-Mar-1986 BELLCORE.COM
And I was told by a very reliable source, Gordon Bell, who I quoted in the book, that DEC.COM was the oldest. So I stand corrected, assuming this is right.
But there were lots of hosts on the internet before there were domain names. The HOSTS.TXT file listed them. So SYMBOLICS.COM was not the first internet host, just the first to register using the (then new) DNS system.
It’s actually a list of the first .com’s registered. It does not include .gov’s, .org’s, .edu’s and .net’s which may or may not have been registered earlier. It is not a list of the earliest domains. Those were all education or military.