Steve Jobs

Every entry, with its source

At 0

1. Feb 24, 1955

   Born in San Francisco

   He was adopted as a newborn by Paul and Clara Jobs.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 13

1. c. 1968

   Cold-called HP's president for parts and got a summer job

   As a middle schooler he looked up Bill Hewlett's number in the phone book and dialed it.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 16

1. c. 1971

   Met Steve Wozniak

   A friend, Bill Fernandez, introduced them. Wozniak was five years older, and electronics made them close.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. c. 1971

   Built and sold blue boxes with Wozniak

   The illegal gadgets let you place free long-distance calls. It was their first business together.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 17

1. c. 1972

   Finished high school and started at Reed College

   An expensive private college in Portland, Oregon. Tuition ate up most of his parents' savings.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Dec 1972

   Dropped out after one semester

   He stayed on campus and audited classes anyway, calligraphy among them. It later shaped the Mac's typefaces.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 19

1. c. 1974

   Hired as a technician at Atari

   The video game company. He took the job to save up for a trip to India.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. c. 1974

   Seven months in India

   He came back with his head shaved and deep into Buddhism, and practiced Zen for the rest of his life.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 21

1. Apr 1, 1976

   Founded Apple Computer

   With Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. They assembled the Apple I in his parents' garage.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Jan 1977

   Apple incorporated, with funding from Mike Markkula

   Markkula, a former Intel executive, brought money and management experience.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 22

1. Apr 1977

   Apple II launched

   The machine that took personal computers mainstream. It paid the company's bills for years.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 23

1. May 1978

   His first daughter, Lisa, was born

   He denied being her father for years, then acknowledged her and rebuilt the relationship.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 24

1. Dec 1979

   Saw the mouse and a graphical screen at Xerox PARC

   That visit set the direction for the Lisa and the Macintosh.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 25

1. Dec 12, 1980

   Apple went public

   He became enormously rich overnight, in the largest public offering since Ford in 1956.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 26

1. Feb 1982

   On the cover of Time

   At 27, presented as the face of the personal computer boom.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 28

1. Apr 1983

   Recruited Pepsi's John Sculley as CEO

   His pitch about selling sugar water for the rest of your life became famous. Two years later Sculley pushed him out.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Jan 24, 1984

   Macintosh launched

   Introduced with the 1984 Super Bowl ad. It brought the mouse and a graphical screen to ordinary buyers.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 30

1. Sep 1985

   Forced out of the company he founded

   He lost a boardroom fight with the CEO he had recruited, was stripped of all duties, and resigned.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Sep 1985

   Founded NeXT

   A company building high-end computers for higher education. It struggled commercially.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
3. Feb 1986

   Bought Lucasfilm's graphics group and made it Pixar

   He paid $5 million, then kept pouring his own money in for the next ten years.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 33

1. Oct 1988

   NeXT Computer unveiled

   Tim Berners-Lee built the World Wide Web on one. Its operating system became the root of Mac OS X.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 36

1. Mar 18, 1991

   Married Laurene Powell

   A Zen monk officiated in Yosemite. They went on to have three children.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 40

1. Nov 22, 1995

   Pixar's first feature, Toy Story, opened

   The first feature-length computer-animated film. Pixar's IPO a week later pushed his net worth past $1 billion.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 41

1. Dec 20, 1996

   Apple bought NeXT, bringing him back after 11 years

   The price was about $400 million. Apple was close to bankruptcy at the time.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 42

1. Sep 1997

   Became Apple's interim CEO

   He cut roughly 70% of the product line, launched the Think different campaign, and landed an investment from Microsoft.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 43

1. May 6, 1998

   iMac launched

   A translucent blue all-in-one, and the first product to put Apple back in the black.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 44

1. Jan 2000

   Dropped the interim and became CEO for real

   Salary of $1. He was paid in stock, plus a private jet.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 46

1. May 19, 2001

   First Apple Stores opened

   Two of them, in Virginia and California. Experts predicted they would fail.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Oct 23, 2001

   iPod launched

   A thousand songs in your pocket. It reshaped the music business.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 48

1. Apr 28, 2003

   iTunes Store opened

   99 cents a song, and a million songs sold in the first week.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Oct 2003

   Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

   It was a rare, treatable type, but he put off surgery for nine months and tried diet instead.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 50

1. Jun 12, 2005

   Stanford commencement speech

   Three stories: dropping out, getting fired, and cancer. One of the most-watched graduation speeches ever.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Jan 24, 2006

   Disney bought Pixar for $7.4 billion

   He became Disney's largest individual shareholder and joined its board.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 51

1. Jan 9, 2007

   iPhone launched

   Apple dropped Computer from its name. The phone came to bring in more than half of the company's revenue.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 53

1. Jul 10, 2008

   App Store opened

   It opened with 500 apps. The whole app economy started here.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 54

1. Apr 2009

   Liver transplant

   Six months of medical leave. He came back to prepare the iPad.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Jan 27, 2010

   iPad launched

   A new category between a phone and a laptop. It sold 15 million units in the first year.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org

At 56

1. Aug 24, 2011

   Resigned as CEO and handed it to Tim Cook

   He stayed on as chairman. His resignation letter said the day had come.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Oct 5, 2011

   Died at 56

   The day after the iPhone 4S announcement, at his home in Palo Alto.

   Source: en.wikipedia.org