Or in 1860 where they started laying sea cables to connect landmasses.
I never claimed that other countries do not do valuable things, but these things are not the internet.
I'm talking about something very specific: the Internet. It was created by the US DOD in the 1960's. Without that happening what would have likely developed are a bunch of private networks like Compuserve, AOL, MSN etc that charge us by the hour.
It is typical that the US claims to have invented something when it is clearly a collaborative effort.
Why is it important to you to revise history on this particular topic? Creating the internet was not even a collaborative effort within the USA. It was done entirely by one single government agency, the Department of Defense. Nobody is saying Europeans never invented anything. Just not the internet.
The internet has so many beginnings
It has exactly one beginning. In 1969. It wasn't even connected over the Atlantic until 1973.
https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/arpanet-internet