Tech Milestones Unveiled: 1925‑2009 Highlights That Shaped the IT World
An engaging chronological roundup showcases pivotal IT events—from the 1925 founding of Bell Labs and the 1939 birth of Hewlett‑Packard to the 2009 Bitcoin genesis block—organized month by month, highlighting breakthroughs, company launches, and product releases that have shaped modern technology.
January
1925‑01‑01: AT&T president Walter Gifford acquires Western Electric’s research division, forming Bell Telephone Laboratories (later Bell Labs).
1939‑01‑01: Bill Hewlett and David Packard start Hewlett‑Packard (HP) in a Palo Alto garage.
1983‑01‑09: Apple releases the Apple Lisa, the first PC to combine a graphical user interface with a mouse.
1984‑01‑24: Apple launches the Macintosh.
1995‑01‑18: Yahoo registers the domain yahoo.com.
1996‑01: Sun releases the first Java Development Kit (JDK 1.0).
1997‑01: Foxmail 1.0 beta (English version) is released.
1999‑01: NVIDIA lists on Nasdaq.
2000‑01‑01: Baidu is founded by Robin Li.
2009‑01‑03: Satoshi Nakamoto embeds the famous quote in Bitcoin’s genesis block.
February
1924‑02‑14: CTR renames to IBM (International Business Machines).
1990‑02: Adobe releases Photoshop 1.0.
1997‑02: Zhang Shuxin launches the national ISP/ICP network Yingtaiwei.
1998‑02‑25: Sohu is founded (originally Aitexin).
1999‑02: Tencent develops OICQ (later QQ).
2006‑02: Zhang Yiming joins travel search site KuXun.
2008‑02: Cheng Binghao leaves Sina to start Beijing Kaixinren IT Co.
2009‑02: Liu Chuanzhi becomes chairman of Lenovo; Yang Yuanqing resumes as CEO.
March
1938‑03‑01: Lee Byung‑Chul establishes Samsung Commercial Association in Daegu, Korea.
1994‑03: "Jerry and David's guide to the World Wide Web" renamed Yahoo!.
1998‑03: Meg Whitman joins eBay as president and CEO.
2005‑03‑06: Douban launches.
2005‑03‑16: Tencent acquires Foxmail; Zhang Xiaolong joins Tencent as head of Guangzhou R&D.
2010‑03‑04: Meituan.com is launched by Wang Xing.
2012‑03: Zhang Yiming founds ByteDance.
2012‑03‑15: Thatgamecompany releases Journey on PSN.
2014‑03‑27: Sina Weibo rebrands to Weibo.
2017‑03‑03: Nintendo releases the Switch console.
April
1975‑04‑04: Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft.
1976‑04‑01: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne incorporate Apple Computer Inc.
1994‑04‑20: China connects to the Internet via a 64K line from Sprint.
1995‑04: Jack Ma establishes Hangzhou Haibo Computer Services Ltd.
1996‑04‑12: Yahoo lists on Nasdaq.
1999‑04‑15: Alibaba website goes live.
2000‑04‑14: Sina lists on Nasdaq.
2000‑04‑18: Zhang Xiaolong sells Foxmail to Boda for 12 million RMB and becomes vice‑president.
2003‑04: Lenovo adopts the English name "Lenovo".
2005‑04‑23: Jawed Karim uploads the first YouTube video.
2008‑04‑10: GitHub launches.
2010‑04‑06: Lei Jun founds Xiaomi with co‑founders Lin Bin, Zhou Guangping, Liu De, Li Wanqiang, Huang Jiangji, and Hong Feng.
2012‑04‑19: WeChat 4.0 releases, adding Moments.
May
1984‑05: Michael Dell founds Dell Inc.
1995‑05: Jack Ma launches China Yellow Pages.
1995‑05‑23: Sun releases Java and the HotJava browser.
1997‑05: Ding Lei founds NetEase.
1997‑05‑15: Amazon IPO (ticker AMZN).
2003‑05: Alibaba creates Taobao.
2014‑05‑06: Tencent establishes the WeChat Business Group, led by Zhang Xiaolong.
June
1977‑06: Larry Ellison and Robert Miner start Software Development Labs, later naming its database Oracle.
1998‑06‑18: Liu Qiangdong founds JD.com.
2005‑06: Cai Lixing becomes CEO of TSMC; Zhang Zhongmou remains chairman.
2005‑06: Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian create Reddit.
2006‑06‑21: Youku launches public beta.
2008‑06‑10: Steve Jobs unveils the 3G iPhone at WWDC.
2010‑06‑08: Apple releases iPhone 4.
2016‑06‑17: The DAO hack on Ethereum steals $50 million worth of Ether.
July
1968‑07‑16: Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove found Intel.
1983‑07: Nintendo releases the Famicom (NES).
1999‑07‑12: ChinaNet lists on Nasdaq, the first Chinese‑concept internet company listed in the US.
1999‑07‑22: MSN introduces MSN Messenger.
2002‑07: eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion.
2011‑07‑11: Lei Jun becomes chairman of Kingsoft.
August
1947‑08‑18: HP becomes a joint‑stock company.
1965‑08: Sony releases the world’s first home VCR, the CV2000.
1981‑08‑12: IBM launches the IBM 5150, the first personal computer.
1990‑08: Samsung successfully develops 16 M DRAM.
1995‑08‑24: MSN goes live.
2002‑08: Fang Xingdong founds BlogChina, China’s first blog platform.
2005‑08‑11: Yahoo invests $1 billion in Alibaba; Alibaba acquires Yahoo China.
2009‑08‑04: Renren (formerly Xiaonei) rebrands.
2012‑08‑23: Youku and Tudou merge into Youku Tudou.
2013‑08‑31: Yahoo China announces service termination.
September
1985‑09‑13: Steve Jobs resigns as Apple chairman and founds NeXT.
1997‑09: AuctionWeb becomes eBay.
1997‑09‑16: Steve Jobs returns as Apple CEO.
1998‑09‑04: Larry Page and Sergey Brin create Google.
2001‑09‑28: "Legend" (online game) public beta by Shanda.
2005‑09: Zhou Hongyi founds Qihoo 360.
2012‑09‑09: Didi Chuxing launches in Beijing.
2014‑09‑16: Peter Thiel and Blake Masters publish "Zero to One".
October
1990‑10: Sega releases the Game Gear handheld.
2004‑10: Yang Bo begins development of Douban.
2008‑10: Wu Xinhong founds Meitu, launching MeituPic.
2011‑10‑01: WeChat 3.0 adds the "Shake" feature.
2011‑10‑05: ChinaNet files for bankruptcy in Atlanta.
2017‑10‑11: Alibaba DAMO Academy is announced.
November
1972‑11‑29: Atari releases the arcade game Pong.
1987‑11‑19: Samsung founder Lee Byung‑Chul passes; his son Lee Kun‑hee becomes chairman.
1998‑11‑11: Tencent is founded by Ma Huateng and four co‑founders.
1999‑11: Chen Tianqiao founds Shanda Interactive.
2003‑11‑06: NetEase launches the beta of "Fantasy Westward Journey".
2004‑11‑18: Shi Yuzhu establishes Zhengtu Network Technology.
2010‑11‑20: Tencent’s WeChat project is officially approved, led by Zhang Xiaolong.
2016‑11: Nintendo announces the discontinuation of Wii U.
December
1980‑12‑12: Apple IPO.
1983‑12: Atari’s unsold inventory is dumped in New Mexico, leading to the Video Game Crash of 1983.
2000‑12‑10: Jack Kilby receives the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the integrated circuit.
2001‑12: NetEase launches "Great Journey Online", the first domestically developed MMORPG.
2003‑12: Andy Rubin founds Android Inc. in Palo Alto.
2004‑12: Jack Ma creates Alipay.
2004‑12‑08: Lenovo acquires IBM’s PC division for $1.25 billion.
2005‑12: Renren (formerly Xiaonei) is launched by founders from Tsinghua and Tianjin universities.
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