Steve Jobs :
“The Man
Behind iWorld”

1976

Co-founder of Apple Computer with Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. That same year, the company sold the Apple I in kit form which retailed for $666.66.

5 June 1977

Released the Apple II, the first commercially available personal computer in a plastic case with color graphics - and Apple's first successful personal computer.

24 January 1984

Two days after the Ridley Scott-directed $1.5 million "1984" Super Bowl ad, introduced the Macintosh to much fanfare during Apple's shareholders meeting. "For the first time, I want the Macintosh to speak for itself." The computer voice then said, "Never trust a computer you can't lift." The Macintosh became the first commercially successful small computer with a graphical user interface.

12 September 1985

CEO John Sculley engineered Jobs' firing from Apple. Jobs stepped down as chairman of Apple, telling a board meeting, "I've been thinking a lot, and it's time for me to move on with my life. Obviously I had to do something. I'm 30." Soon after, Jobs started NeXT Computer ( which later became NeXT Software), funded by selling $70 million of his Apple stock. An "interpersonal" NeXT workstation, using a built-in Ethernet port, was used by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN to become the first server of the World Wide Web.

3 February 1986

For $10 million, buy out the Graphics Group division of Lucasfilm which became Pixar Animation Studios.

1986

Became president and CEO of Pixar. Later that year, Jobs brought Pixar public a week after the release of "Toy Story," with Tom Hanks voicing Woody and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear. The film made $192 million at the box office. Its success helped make it attractive enough for celebrities to lend their voices to animated characters.

10 December 1996

Back to Apple, as an adviser, after buying NeXT for $429 million.

10 November 1997

Introduced the Apple Store, which allows consumers to order customized Apple products directly from the company online.

23 October 2001

Introduce iPod:

"With iPod, Apple has invented a whole new category of digital music player that lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it wherever you go...With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again."

Apple shipped more than 300 million iPods as of October 2011.

2 February 2006

iTunes sold the billionth song:

"I hope that every customer, artist and music company executive takes a moment today to reflect on what we've achieved together during the past three years."

Apple shipped more than 300 million iPods as of October 2011.

9 January 2007

Derived "Computer" from the Apple name. Introducing iPhones:

"iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone...We are all born with the ultimate pointing device--our fingers--and iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse."

Apple controlled 19.1 percent of the smartphone market as of August 2011, having shipped 108 million iPhones worldwide in March 2011.

15 January 2008

Introducing the App Store as an update for iTunes. Also introduced the MacBook Air. The App Store facilitated 18 billion app downloads as of October 4, 2011.

27 January 2010

Introducing iPads. Apple sold 500,000 iPads during their first week on the market and acquired 84 percent of the tablet market by the end of the year, with an estimated 12.9 million shipped on December 10, 2010, and 25 million shipped worldwide in June 2011. That same month, the company revealed that they have sold 200 million iOS devices.

6 June 2011

Giving the keynote address at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, this was Jobs' last public appearance at an Apple event.

9 August 2011

Apple shares surpassed those of Exxon Mobil to become the most valuable US company, in terms of market capitalization, at $337.17 billion.

24 August 2011

Resigned from the post of CEO of Apple; become Chairman.