From iMacs to iPhones

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1976: Steve Jobs, 21, and high school friend Steve Wozniak, 26, launch Apple Computer from the Jobs family garage in Los Altos, Calif. The Apple I, a simple circuit board, is born from the working capital received from the sale of Mr. Jobs' Volkswagen minibus and Mr. Wozniak's programmable calculator.

1980: Apple goes public with the largest IPO since Ford in 1956. The stock, which opened at $22 (U.S.), rises almost 32 per cent on its first day of trading, giving the company a market valuation of $1.8-billion. More than 40 of Apple's 1,000 employees become millionaires.

1984: Apple launches the Macintosh with a Super Bowl commercial. The $2,500 (U.S.) computer, which features on-screen windows, icons and a mouse, is unlike anything else on the market.

1985: Mr. Wozniak leaves Apple to become a teacher. Mr. Jobs is ousted after Mac sales fail to live up to expectations.

1991: Apple and IBM form a surprising alliance to develop the PowerPC. They create two new software companies to develop multimedia software before quarrelling causes Apple to pull out.

1996: Apple buys NeXT Software, the company Mr. Jobs built after leaving Apple. He is hired as an adviser and in 1997 is named interim CEO.

1998: Mr. Jobs unveils the iMac,

a more affordable computer that becomes a hot seller and lifts Apple's U.S. market share from a record low of 2.6 per cent in 1997 to about 13.5 per cent in 1998. Apple sees its first profitable fiscal year since 1995.

2001: Apple introduces the iTunes computer program and the iPod, which becomes a market leader in MP3 players. First two Apple Stores open in the United States.

2005: Mr. Jobs publicly acknowledges he has battled pancreatic cancer. The same year, the iPod shuffle and Nano hit stores.

2007: Apple launches the iPhone, a touch-screen cellphone capable of playing MP3s and videos and accessing the Internet.

2009: Mr. Jobs takes a six-month medical leave after stating he suffers from a hormonal imbalance. It is later revealed he had a liver transplant.

Dianne Nice