Google Chrome and V8 Engine Release

Google released its Chrome browser, featuring the revolutionary V8 JavaScript engine. V8 was designed for speed, compiling JavaScript directly to machine code, making it an ideal candidate for server-side applications.

Significance

The existence of a high-performance, open-source JavaScript engine like V8 was a crucial prerequisite for Node.js. It proved that JavaScript could be fast enough for demanding server tasks, providing the foundation for Ryan Dahl's vision.