Simple HTTP Connection example

I am a little annoyed and feel like giving up. I need to write a program that does something very simple, I give it a server and have it connect to the server and then print a message based on whether it connected or not. I have been trying to find example code all week, but none exists. All I can find is how to write a server and client, I just need to write a basic program that connects to like duckduckgo.com or something in C. I just need a basic example so I can understand how it works and there is nothing out there. Does anyone have a simple example? I just need a basic http connection to a server and can't find anything.