Some key dates from the life and work of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc:
1955
Stephen Paul Jobs is born on February 24.
1972
Jobs enrolls at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, but drops out after a semester.
1974
Jobs works for video game maker Atari and attends meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club with Steve Wozniak, a high school friend who was a few years older.
1975
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak attend Homebrew Computer Club meetings.
1976
Apple Computer is formed on April Fool's Day, shortly after Wozniak and Jobs create a new computer circuit board in a Silicon Valley garage. A third co-founder, Ron Wayne, leaves the company after less than two weeks. The Apple I computer goes on sale by the summer for $666.66
1977
Apple is incorporated by its founders and a group of venture capitalists. It unveils Apple II, the first personal computer to generate color graphics. Revenue reaches $1 million.
1978
Jobs' daughter Lisa is born to girlfriend Chrisann Brennan.
1979
Jobs visits Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, or PARC, and is inspired by a computer with a graphical user interface.
1980
Apple goes public, raising $110 million in one of the biggest initial public offerings to date.
1982
Annual revenue climbs to $1 billion.
1983
The Lisa computer goes on sale with much fanfare, only to be pulled two years later. Jobs lures John Sculley away from Pepsico Inc to serve as Apple's CEO.
1984
Iconic "1984" Macintosh commercial directed by Ridley Scott airs during the Super Bowl. The Macintosh computer goes on sale.
1985
Jobs and Sculley clash, leading to Jobs' resignation. Wozniak also resigns from Apple this year.
1986
Jobs starts Next Inc, a new computer company making high-end machines for universities. He also buys Pixar from Star Wars creator George Lucas for $10 million.
1989
First NeXT computer goes on sale with a $6,500 price tag.
1991
Apple and IBM Corp announce an alliance to develop new PC microprocessors and software. Apple unveils portable Macs called PowerBook.
1993
Apple introduces the Newton, a hand-held, pen-based computer. The company reports quarterly loss of $188 million in July. Sculley is replaced as CEO by Apple president Michael Spindler. Apple restructures, and Sculley resigns as chairman. At Next, Jobs decides to focus on software instead of whole computers.
1994
Apple introduces Power Macintosh computers based on the PowerPC chip it developed with IBM and Motorola. Apple decides to license its operating software and allow other companies to "clone" the Mac, adopting the model championed by Microsoft Corp.
1995
The first Mac clones go on sale. Microsoft releases Windows 95, which is easier to use than previous versions and is more like the Mac system. Apple struggles with competition, parts shortages and mistakes predicting customer demand. Pixar's "Toy Story," the first commercial computer-animated feature, hits theaters. Pixar goes to Wall Street with an IPO that raises $140 million.
1996
Apple announces plans to buy Next for $430 million for the operating system Jobs' team developed. Jobs is appointed an adviser to Apple. Gil Amelio replaces Spindler as CEO.
1997
Jobs becomes interim CEO after Amelio is pushed out. He foreshadows the marketing hook for a new product line by calling himself "iCEO." Jobs puts an end to Mac clones.
1998
Apple returns to profitability. It shakes up personal computer industry in 1998 with the candy-colored, all-in-one iMac desktop, the original models shaped like a futuristic TV. Apple discontinues the Newton.
2000
Apple removes "interim" label from Jobs' CEO title.
2001
The first iPod goes on sale, as do computers with OS X, the modern Mac operating system based on Next software. Apple also releases iTunes software.
2003
Apple launches the iTunes Music Store with 200,000 songs at 99 cents each, giving people a convenient way to buy music legally online. It sells 1 million songs in the first week.
2004
Jobs undergoes surgery for a rare but curable form of pancreatic cancer. Apple discloses his illness after the fact.
2005
Apple expands the iPod line with the tiny Nano and an iPod that can play video. The company also announces that future Macs will use Intel chips.
2006
Disney buys Pixar for $7.4 billion. Jobs becomes Disney's largest individual shareholder, and much of his wealth is derived from this sale.
2007
Apple releases its first smartphone, the iPhone. Crowds camp overnight at stores to be one of the first to own the new device.
2008
Speculation mounts that Jobs is ill, given weight loss. In September he kicks off an Apple event and says, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated," making a play off a famous Mark Twain quote after Bloomberg News accidentally publishes, then retracts, an obituary that it had prepared in advance.
2009
Jobs explains severe weight loss by saying he has a treatable hormone imbalance and that he will continue to run Apple. Days later he backtracks and announces he will be on medical leave. He returns to work in June. Later it is learned that he received a liver transplant.
2010
Apple sells 15 million of its newest gadget, the iPad, in nine months, giving rise to a new category of modern touchscreen tablet computers.
January 17, 2011
In a memo to Apple employees, Jobs announces a second medical leave with no set duration. Cook again steps in to run day-to-day operations. Jobs retains CEO title and remains involved in major decisions.
August 24, 2011
Apple announces that Jobs is resigning as CEO. Cook takes the CEO title, and Apple names Jobs chairman.
October 5, 2011
Jobs dies at 56. Apple announces his death without giving a specific cause.
