Timeline: Bill Gates Contributions to Community

Oct 28, 1955

William Henry Gates III was born in Seattle, Washington

Gates was born in Seattle, Washington, to William H. Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates

Sep 1, 1960

Begins Public School

Sep 1, 1967

Meets Paul Allen at Lakeside Private School

Gates is enrolled in the Lakeside School, an exclusive private school in Seattle, where he befriends Paul Allen. The two students share an interest in computers and programming. The school notices his knack for technology and asks him to create a computerized schedule of classes.

Sep 1, 1968

First works with Computers, Lakeside Programmers Group started.

Jan 1, 1971

Starts Traf-O-Data Business with Paul Allen

Jun 1, 1972

Works summer as a congressional page

Sep 1, 1973

Enters Harvard as a pre-law major

Gates enters Harvard as a pre-law major, but soon shifts focus. He quickly runs through the university’s most rigorous mathematics and graduate level computer science courses.

Nov 3, 1975

Gates calls MITS, Sells software system for the Altair.

From his dorm room, Gates calls MITS, the maker of the world’s first personal computer. He offers to develop software for the MITS Altair. MITS eventually accepts and buys his language for $3,000 plus royalties. Gates takes his first leave of absence from school to start working on the software venture he refers to as Micro-Soft.

Nov 3, 1976

Gates founds Microsoft with Allen. Registers "Microsoft" Trademark

Gates and Allen register the trademark “Microsoft.” Gates writes an open letter to computer hobbyists, condemning the early adopters for sharing, rather than paying for, software

Nov 3, 1977

Sets up Microsoft in Albuquerque, N.M. Drops out of Harvard

Gates takes a second leave of absence from Harvard and sets up Microsoft in Albuquerque, N.M., where MITS is headquartered.

Nov 3, 1978

Microsoft’s year-end sales exceed $1 million

Microsoft’s year-end sales exceed $1 million. Gates gains a reputation for being tough, but focused.

Dec 1, 1979

Microsoft headquarters are relocated to Bellevue, Wash

Microsoft headquarters are relocated to Bellevue, Wash., a suburb of Gates’ hometown, Seattle.

Nov 6, 1980

Contract to write OS for IBM PC

Makes blockbuster deal with International Business Machines (IBM)

Nov 3, 1981

Microsoft buys "DOS" from Seattle Computer Products.

Microsoft incorporates and buys the rights to the operating system “DOS” from Seattle Computer Products. The system is modified and renamed MS-DOS, and the company licenses it to IBM for the company’s new personal computer.

Nov 16, 1982

Microsoft sells Multiplan spreadsheet software.

Jan 1, 1983

Microsoft releases Microsoft Word.

Nov 3, 1983

Paul Allen leaves Microsoft.

Allen leaves Microsoft after developing Hodgkin’s disease. Microsoft announces Windows as an extension of its MS-DOS operating system.

Nov 21, 1985

Windows 1.0 released

Mar 13, 1986

Microsoft stock goes Public

Nov 3, 1986

Microsoft headquarters moves to Redmond, Wash.

Microsoft headquarters move again, this time to nearby Redmond, Wash. Shortly after, the company goes public.

Oct 1, 1987

Meets future wife, Melinda Fench

Nov 3, 1987

Gates becomes youngest millionaire in U.S. history.

At age 31, Gates becomes the youngest millionaire ever. He meets his future wife, Melinda French, at a Microsoft event in New York.

Jan 1, 1988

Apple files suit against Microsoft

Mar 1, 1989

Court rules in favor of Microsoft against Apple.

Founds Corbis Corporation

Mar 3, 1989

Gates Founds Corbis

Gates founds Corbis, an archive of art and photography from public and private collections. Corbis later becomes one of the largest collections of visual information in the world.

May 22, 1990