The first node at UCLA ( Los Angeles) is connected to the intertnet's military ARPARNET. With no HQ and the ability to bounce messages between surviving nodes until they reach their destination, ARPANET was to be America's bomb-proof communications networking system at the height of the Cold War.
http://sunsite.uakom.sk/sunworldonline/swol-10-1997/swol-10-realworld.html- image of node
Great increase in hosts from the years 1989/2000
1989- 100 000 hosts 1990- 300 000 hosts
1994- 3.2 million hosts and 3000 webistes
1995- 6.4 million hosts and 25 000 websites
1997- 19.5 million hosts and 1.2 million websites
2001-110 million hosts and 30 million websites