~&#x2F;public_html<p>NCSA httpd supported an option that allowed every user on a system to put html documents in a specially named directory and have them instantly served up to the world.  User created content exploded--undergraduates (like me) were instantly addicted.<p>I&#x27;m not even sure who came up with ~&#x2F;public_html (Rob McCool or Ari Luotonen are the primary suspects) but whoever it was will always be an undersung hero of the web.