Common features of web application frameworks

I digged all the Internet to find information about my topic. There is no intresting and no helpfull information about that.

I'am searching information about what are the common features of web application frameworks. I known some frameworks for example: Zend, Ryby on Rails, Django etc. I known also how they basically works. All the frameworks have common features like router, controllers, dispatcher and the other, but from where these features come from? From software design patterns? I look for example for dispatcher and router (most interesting for me) in design patterns but I found nothing. Who first wrote or publish dispatcher solution? Is it from the other piece of IT cake or form outside od IT?

I'm trying to understand common engine core of all web appplication frameworks.