Les Horribles Cernettes

On July 18, 1992, this photograph of Les Horribles Cernettes — comprised of Michele Muller, Colette Marx-Nielsen, Angela Higney, and Lynn Veronneau — became the very first image uploaded to the web.

Who were they? The group was formed in 1990 at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva. Michele Muller, was a 3D graphic designer for a virtual reality project at CERN who spent many lonely nights because her boyfriend, CERN computer scientist Silvano de Gennaro, worked long hours. So Michele set her frustrations to song. She asked Silvano to write a song about her life and rounded up a couple of girlfriends to back her up on stage.  A physics-focused doo-wop band was born! They sang songs about colliders, quarks, microwaves, antiprotons and Internet. Their song, Collider,  became the National Anthem of the High Energy Kingdom.




The group and their band consisted of many different personnel over the years. They officially disbanded in late July 2012, after one last performance at the CERN Hardronic Festival.

Much more: Brain Pickings