 In 1983, CRC set up the first permanent Canadian governmental connection to the Internet, via an ARPANET connection (the first full international connection to the USENET portion of the then-Internet being the set up in 1981 by Henry Spencer at the University of Toronto).In the 1980s, the CRC funded and led the development of SHARP, which in 1987 became the world's first microwave-powered aircraft to fly.The CRC is responsible for many other firsts that have impacted Canadian telecommunications