Hotmail turns 30 today — 4 July 1996 → 4 July 2026.

I’ve been around long enough to remember when HoTMaiL launched — back when the name literally had HTML baked into it. Microsoft bought it in December 1997, MSN Messenger ruled the world, and everyone’s first email address said something embarrassing.

I, however, didn’t create my Hotmail account until April 1998 — before Gmail existed, before Facebook existed, before broadband existed.

I still hold that same account today. It’s one of the old, original Hotmail accounts from the early Microsoft era. The digital footprint I’ve built since then bleeds across the internet and ties back to govvy.co.uk — the home of the original Govvy.

So Happy Birthday Hotmail.