Online dating has in some ways overtaken in person connections as the number one way that people meet. The appeal is easy to understand. It takes something complicated and simplifies it. A concept in dating that predates the internet itself by almost 300 years.

1695: The very first instance of a personal ad appeared in a British publication called the Collection for the Improvement of Husbandry and Trade. The ad was a proposal of marriage to a young woman with 3,000 in her personal fortune.

Popularity in the service did not grow for a long time though. In 1727 a woman in Manchester England was committed to an asylum by the town mayor after posting a personal ad in the Manchester Weekly Journal.

1983: The basic internet was taking shape and the very first online matchmaking service was began in 1983. MatchMaker was originally a dial in service which is like placing a phone call into one website. It was basically a bulletin board online intended for pen pals to find each other. Not very romantic.

They changed their focus to romance and began to franchise the business to different regions the internet was very different then. In 1998, the franchisees consolidated into one company and launched the website MatchMaker.com. In 2000 it was sold to Lycos, and sold again in 2006.

1993: AOL added chatrooms to their service and naturally, the internet being the internet, it quickly became about sex.

With digital photos not yet in the mainstream in 1993, users had to describe themselves, and always with the utmost honesty.

1995: Match.com becomes the first website to launch with the specific goal of bringing couples together. Users would fill out questionnaires and algorithms would pair people together based on mutual interests and geography.In order to build their initial user base they offered a free lifetime membership to anyone who signed up at the launch.Though you really have to question the quality of the service if you are still on it nearly 20 years later.

2004: OKcupid is a freemium dating service, offering users no restrictions in using basic things like messaging, but offering additional services for small costs like angry birds. Users answer submitted questions and then rate how important each question is to them. Then the website spits out match percentages based on the answers to mutually answered questions.

2009: The first hookup app to use geo-location, Grindr was focused on single homosexuals. Using the location data in a mobile phone the app shows pictures of nearby partners who may interest the user in a widening grid representing the expanding distance.Available in 192 countries today, it is the most popular gay social media app in the world with more than 5 million active monthly users.

2011: Tinder, which may be the simplest approach mankind has ever taken in hooking up, launched publicly in 2012. Using Facebook profiles to grab pictures and locations, Tinder does away with complicated questionnaires and background checks and distills all choice into one action. Swipe left for ugos. Swipe right for babes. If two people swipe right on each other then they can message.

Tinder interestingly enough is owned by the same company as Match.com and OKcupid. One big happy polyamorous family.