Microsoft was founded by the school friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to write software for the Altair 8800, one of the first personal computers. Their first product was a version of the BASIC programming language. The company moved to the Seattle area in 1979, and it grew rapidly after it supplied the MS-DOS operating system for the IBM Personal Computer in 1981. Microsoft Windows, introduced in 1985, and the Office software suite made it the dominant firm in personal computer software, and it went public in 1986. Later it expanded into video games, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and it has remained one of the world's most valuable companies.
Before and after
- 1975Founding of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
- 5 January 1975Birth of Bradley Cooper
- 11 January 1975Birth of Matteo Renzi
- 3 February 1975Death of Umm Kulthum
- 4 April 1975Founding of Microsoft
- 5 April 1975Death of Chiang Kai-shek
- from 13 April 1975 to 13 October 1990Lebanese Civil War
- from 17 April 1975 to 7 January 1979Cambodian genocide
- 30 April 1975Fall of Saigon
More in Society, economy & sport
- 16 November 1945Founding of UNESCO
- 7 April 1948Founding of World Health Organization
- 4 April 1949Founding of NATO
- 1959HIV/AIDS
- 1 November 1993Founding of European Union
- 2015Rise of Wikipedia Asian Month
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.