In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee, a physicist at the European Particle Physics Laboratory (CERN), developed HTML. Berners-Lee and his CERN compatriots also invented the World Wide Web in 1989. CERN researchers created a prototype Web broweser in 1990, and in 1991, a public Web broweser became available. In 1992, CERN began promoting the Web as an information tool, and the Mosaic Web browser emerged.
    The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is a group of Web gods and goddesses responsible for determining and publishing the Web's standards. W3C members are from organizations and businesses interested in determining the Web's future. The W3C has the responsibility of approving the HTML standards to which Web pages adhere; therefore, this organization has played a vital role in HTML's development. The W3C also publishes HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) standards (HTTP is the Web's communications network protocol that determines how information is transmitted across the Internet). The W3C is interested in assisting Web development in many areas. For more information about the W3C, see this site:
http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/

You can learn a lot more about Web and HTML history by consulting these sites:
A Little History of the World Wide Web:
http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/History.html

The Web FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions);
http://www.boutell.com/faq/
                                                                                       (Brief Excerpt From "Hip Pocket Guide to HTML 4")