Editing Packet switching (section)

====Merit Network====
[[Merit Network]], an independent [[nonprofit organization]] governed by Michigan's public universities,<ref name="Merit">Merit receives administrative services under an agreement with the [[University of Michigan]].</ref> was formed in 1966 as the Michigan Educational Research Information Triad to explore computer networking between three of Michigan's public universities as a means to help the state's educational and economic development.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.merit.edu/about/history/article.php |title=A Chronicle of Merit's Early History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207130720/http://merit.edu/about/history/article.php |archive-date=2009-02-07 |author=John Mulcahy |date=1989 |publisher=Merit Network |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan}}</ref> With initial support from the [[State of Michigan]] and the [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF), the packet-switched network was first demonstrated in December 1971 when an interactive host-to-host connection was made between the [[IBM mainframe]] systems at the [[University of Michigan]] in [[Ann Arbor]] and [[Wayne State University]] in [[Detroit]].<ref name="MeritTimeline1970-1979">{{citation |url=http://www.merit.edu/about/history/timeline_1970.php |title=Merit Network Timeline: 1970–1979 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101025735/http://www.merit.edu/about/history/timeline_1970.php |archive-date=2016-01-01 |publisher=Merit Network |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan}}</ref> In October 1972, connections to the [[Control Data Corporation|CDC]] mainframe at [[Michigan State University]] in [[East Lansing]] completed the triad. Over the next several years, in addition to host-to-host interactive connections, the network was enhanced to support terminal-to-host connections, host-to-host batch connections (remote job submission, remote printing, batch file transfer), interactive file transfer, gateways to the [[Tymnet]] and [[Telenet]] [[public data network]]s, X.25 host attachments, gateways to X.25 data networks, Ethernet attached hosts, and eventually [[TCP/IP]]; additionally, [[List of colleges and universities in Michigan#Public colleges and universities|public universities in Michigan]] joined the network.<ref name=MeritTimeline1970-1979/><ref name="MeritTimeline1980-1989">{{citation |url=http://www.merit.edu/about/history/timeline_1980.php |title=Merit Network Timeline: 1980–1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101025735/http://www.merit.edu/about/history/timeline_1980.php |archive-date=2016-01-01 |publisher=Merit Network |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan}}</ref> All of this set the stage for Merit's role in the [[NSFNET]] project starting in the mid-1980s.