Which browser was the first to support JavaScript?

The first browser to support JavaScript was Netscape Navigator 2.0.

Netscape created JavaScript in 1995 to make web pages interactive instead of purely static. Brendan Eich developed the language at Netscape, initially in a remarkably short period, with the goal of giving ordinary web authors a lightweight scripting tool. The language first appeared under the name LiveScript in a Navigator beta before being renamed JavaScript for the official release.

Netscape Navigator 2.0 shipped JavaScript support in December 1995. Scripts could respond to events, validate form fields, open windows, alter page content, and create simple interactive effects directly in the browser. These capabilities helped establish the modern client-side web.

JavaScript is not the same language as Java, despite the similar name. The naming reflected Java’s popularity at the time and was partly a marketing decision. Microsoft later introduced its compatible implementation, JScript, in Internet Explorer. Netscape submitted JavaScript to Ecma International in 1996, leading to the standardized ECMAScript specification in 1997.