The First Internet Cafe Operates (For Two Days)

Commissioned to develop an Internet event for "Towards the Aesthetics of the Future," an arts weekend at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, Ivan Pope wrote a proposal outlining the concept of a café with Internet access from the tables. Pope's Cybercafe, the first Internet cafe, operated only during the weekend event, March 12-13, 1994.

Pope and internet artist Heath Bunting planned to open London's first cybercafe later in 1994, but were preempted by Cyberia, an internet cafe founded in London in September 1994. Cyberia provided desktop computers with full internet access in a café environment. Situated at 39 Whitfield Street in Fitzrovia, the cafe was founded by Eva Pascoe, David Rowe, Keith Teare and Gené Teare, and the space served as an early hub for those with an interest in computing and the web. Cyberia was the first internet cafe in the UK. Before internet connections were widespread this was a significant draw. It soon expanded into a franchise across the UK and elsewhere, eventually extending to about a dozen branches.