AOL, otherwise known as America Online, is an American global Internet service and media company. It was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in New York City. It serves at least 3.3 million paid subscribers and its membership was once over 30 million members worldwide. AOL is most prominent for its online software suite that allows customers to access the world’s largest online community and reach out to the Internet entirely. It was originally created as the online service for people unfamiliar with computers.

On this day, October 29th, in 1996, AOL changed its hourly fee to a flat monthly rate of $19.95. Originally, AOL charged users with an hourly fee. With this shift in payment plans, AOL was flooded with users trying to get on at the same time and as a result, many users were unable to get through. This resulted in many users cancelling their accounts due to constant busy signals.