Microsoft paid $50k for the foundation of the OS they licensed to IBM

Microsoft's initial successes came from promising products that did not yet exist

In discussions with teams responsible for MITS's Altair 8800 and IBM's PC, Bill Gates and Paul Allen claimed to have created ready-to-use software. Code for the former was not completed until Paul Allen's flight to MITS' headquarters, where the software was successfully tested for the first time.

Bill Gates and Paul Allen were childhood friends before founding Microsoft

The two bonded over a teletype terminal at their school, which required a $40 hourly fee for computing time. They were banned from using the device after exploiting a bug that allowed them to bypass the fee, only to be later offered free computing time for finding more bugs.

Microsoft Office debuted on the Macintosh in 1989

Over 15 months before its debut on Windows, the suite included Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Mail—the precursor to Outlook. Bill Gates saw the Mac as a testing ground to work out bugs and gather feedback before the Windows release.

By 2005, Microsoft may have made as many as 12,000 millionaires

Stock options given to early employees also created four billionaires, including Bill Gates, who became the then-youngest self-made billionaire at the age of 31. As of 2025, Microsoft employs about 228,000 employees, including more than 50,000 at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

Microsoft developed the Xbox to compete with Sony's all-in-one entertainment hardware

The video game console originated as a side project between four DirectX developers, from whom the console's original name, "DirectX Box," derives. These developers sought to counter Sony's PlayStation product line, which they saw as capable of capturing all entertainment markets by playing games, CDs, and DVDs.

Microsoft's Flight Simulator is one of history's longest-running software products

The program originated from a master’s thesis project on generating three-dimensional graphics, which was later combined with flight equations. The first version ran on the Apple II in early 1980, but its creator licensed the program to Microsoft two years later,

How Steve Jobs tried to end development on Linux by offering Linus Torvalds a job

In a 2012 interview, Linus Torvalds claimed that the Apple CEO offered him a job in 2000 to exclusively work on Mac OS's Mach kernel. While Linux has not provided the financial benefits that a business venture with Apple may have, Torvalds stated, "I'm very happy with feeling that I've done the right thing." (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

The Rolling Stones were paid $3M to have 'Start Me Up' in the Windows 95 promo

The fee was part of Microsoft's $300M advertising and promotional campaign for the operating system, which featured the Start button for the first time. The company also filmed sitcom-style infomercials featuring "Friends" TV stars Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry.

Upgrade cost and compatibility issues have kept Microsoft's legacy systems alive

As of 2025, Windows XP and Windows NT continue to power ATMs and transit systems, while Deutsche Bahn's trains use Windows 3.11 for display systems. Microsoft's continued support for these operating systems helps it maintain its dominance in the business sector.

Microsoft’s 'Blue Screen of Death' was a symbol of computer crashes for over 30 years

In 2025, the symbol was replaced with a "Black Screen of Death" for improved readability and alignment with Windows 11's modern design. It became a pop culture symbol after appearing in Bill Gates' live tech demo of Windows 98.

Explore an emulated demo of Windows 95 Microsoft Plus!

The operating system went on sale on August 24, 1995, and was the first to feature the Start menu. Through this emulation, try your hand at Solitaire, 3D Pinball Space Cadet, and other classic Windows applications.

One of Apple's first computers sold for $375K at an auction

An operational Apple I, the first model of personal computer made by Apple, sold for $375K at an auction. The machine was first sold in 1976 and has a handwritten serial number by Steve Jobs himself. The auction, provided rare insight into the beginnings of the influential tech company.

The history of the Linux Foundation, a technology consortium supporting open-source projects

The nonprofit, founded in 2000 by IBM, HP, Intel, and others as the Open Source Development Labs, was established to build the infrastructure needed to scale with the growing development of Linux. Upon merging with the Free Standards Group in 2007, it rebranded as the Linux Foundation and, as of 2024, provides a "neutral home for code and collaboration" to almost 1,000 projects.

Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard are known for creating the 'founding' Silicon Valley company Hewlett-Packard

During the company's early years, Hewlett and Packard established a management approach called "the HP Way." The approach, which was considered radical at the time, helped shape the way Silicon Valley is run today.

How the GNU General Public License ensures software remains free and open

Rather than copyright, the free software license is based on the principles of copyleft—users are allowed to use, modify, and distribute software without charge, provided that any derivative works remain free. The license was introduced in 1989 by Richard Stallman, who founded the Free Software Foundation to promote the accessibility of software.

In 1999, Microsoft and Intel’s addition signaled the information tech era for the Dow

Microsoft and Intel became the first information technology firms added to the DJIA. Their inclusion marked a turning point—the digital revolution and tech began to drive the American economy.

Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform serves customers in 140 countries

Rather than owning and maintaining hardware on-premises, cloud computing enables users to access large reserves of storage and processing power over the internet, much like customers connect to a utility provider rather than generating their own electricity. This centralization also standardizes security tools and updates.

Explore the cost of major viruses and other malware incidents through 2017

The first significant malware was the Morris worm in 1988, which caused an estimated $10,000 to $10M in damage to computers. With $38B in damage caused, Mydoom is the most costly piece of malware in history. Spread via email and, at one point, accounting for about 25% of all messages sent worldwide, the malware infected computers to create a botnet that launched cyberattacks.

COBOL was partly derived from Grace Hopper's FLOW-MATIC programming language

The Common Business-Oriented Language was developed for business data processing, supporting precise decimal calculations and an English-like syntax. Able to work across operating systems and hardware environments, COBOL and its newer versions support 80% of in-person credit card transactions and 95% of all ATM transactions.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

IBM developed a benchmark to measure the usable performance of a quantum computer

Dubbed "quantum volume," the benchmark tests how well a quantum computer runs complex tasks. It stops when the computer can no longer correctly select the most likely answers, called "heavy outputs," more than two-thirds of the time.

The foundation for computer viruses was published after its creator's death

In the late 1940s, Hungarian American mathematician, scientist, and engineer John von Neumann gave a series of lectures where he explained the theoretical framework for a computer program that could replicate itself—the von Neumann Universal Constructor. His lectures were later compiled and published in 1966, nine years after his death from cancer.

Moore's Law came from observing exponential computing growth in the 1960s

In 1965, Gordon Moore, cofounder of Intel Corporation, observed a four-year trend of constant growth rate in computing power. Hypothesizing the trend would continue, his observation became the benchmark that the computing industry has worked to maintain for 60 years.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Google had a quirky, auction-based IPO

In its sixth year, Google's shareholders reached a size where regulators would require the company to publicly report its financials. This prompted the company to go public through an unconventional style: the Dutch auction. The company auctioned its shares starting from a high price and dropping to a lower level.

'The $64,000 Question' took the quiz show formula to new levels

Creator Louis G. Cowan upped the potential winnings and had his team scour through contestant applications in search of everyday people with exceptional knowledge in a particular area. When the show premiered in 1955, they made the game appear high-tech by using cutting-edge IBM technology to deliver questions. The gambit worked: At one point, 55 million Americans tuned in.

Mark Zuckerberg was nearly fired from his own company after refusing to sell Facebook to Yahoo for $1B

In 2006, Yahoo tried to buy Facebook for $1B. Despite enthusiasm from nearly all of Facebook's management team and board (which included PayPal cofounder and famed investor Peter Thiel at the time), then 22-year-old Zuckerberg turned down the offer, insisting that Yahoo undervalued the company and didn't have a clear vision for the future. Zuckerberg has since said he regrets not being clear about his intentions to grow the company with his team before the Yahoo bid, as almost all of the company's management team left after he turned down the offer.

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'