Just agreeing here on the part about DARPA. It's possible, though, that you have no idea just how much DARPA was involved. Despite my research, I just now stumbled onto the Strategic Computing Initiative which shows most of the coolest stuff I studied was all tied to DARPA. Most people haven't heard of it despite it being much more useful than the other Strategic Initiative they know about. Link below for your enjoyment.

http://monoskop.org/images/d/d4/Roland_Alex_Shiman_Philip_St...