On this day in 2007, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone—a touchscreen mobile phone with an iPod, camera and Web-browsing capabilities, among other features—at the Macworld convention in San Francisco. Jobs, dressed in his customary jeans and black mock turtleneck, called the iPhone a "revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone." When it went on sale in the United States six months later, on June 29, amidst huge hype, thousands of customers lined up at Apple stores across the country to be among the first to purchase an iPhone.
In November 2007—by which point more than 1.4 million iPhones had been sold—Time magazine named the sleek, 4.8-ounce device, originally available in a 4GB, $499 model and an 8GB, $599 model, its invention of the year. The iPhone went on sale in parts of Europe in late 2007, and in parts of Asia in 2008. In July 2008, Apple launched its online App Store, enabling people to download software applications that let them use their iPhones for games, social networking, travel planning and an every growing laundry list of other activities. Apple went on to release updated models of the iPhone, including the 4S, which debuted in October 2011 and featured Siri, a voice-activated digital assistant.
The iPhone helped turned Apple, which Jobs (1955-2011) co-founded with his friend Stephen Wozniak in California in 1976, into one of the planet's most valuable corporations. In 2012, five years after the iPhone's debut, more than 200 million had been sold. The iPhone joined a list of innovative Apple products, including the Macintosh (launched in 1984, it was one of the first personal computers to feature a graphical user interface, which allowed people to navigate by pointing and clicking a mouse rather than typing commands) and the iPod portable music player (launched in 2001), that became part of everyday modern life.
Also on This Day
- Lead Story
- Columbus mistakes manatees for mermaids, 1493
- American Revolution
- Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense, 1776
- Automotive
- Bond movie features Aston Martin, 1965
- Civil War
- Star of the West is fired upon, 1861
- Cold War
- Truman warns of Cold War dangers, 1952
- Crime
- The Hillside Stranglers, 1984
- Disaster
- Fire breaks out on Queen Elizabeth, 1972
- General Interest
- First modern circus is staged, 1768
- Nelson buried at St. Paul's Cathedral, 1806
- Queen Elizabeth destroyed by fire, 1972
- Steve Jobs debuts the iPhone, 2007
- Hollywood
- Stallone starts filming Rocky, 1976
- Literary
- Virginia Woolf buys a house in Bloomsbury, 1924
- Music
- Pop luminaries gather at the U.N. for the Music for UNICEF concert, 1979
- Old West
- Record cold and snow decimates cattle herds, 1887
- Presidential
- Richard M. Nixon is born, 1913
- Sports
- Laker winning streak comes to an end, 1972
- Vietnam War
- Support is pledged to civilian government, 1965
- U.S. officials try to counter claims of Saigon corruption, 1967
- World War I
- Battle of Khadairi Bend begins, 1917
- World War II
- United States invades Luzon in Philippines, 1945
Jan 9, 2007:
Steve Jobs debuts the iPhone
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This Week in History, Jan 9 - Jan 15
- Jan 09, 1768
- First modern circus is staged
- Jan 09, 1806
- Nelson buried at St. Paul's Cathedral
- Jan 09, 1972
- Queen Elizabeth destroyed by fire
- Jan 09, 2007
- Steve Jobs debuts the iPhone
- Jan 10, 1920
- League of Nations instituted
- Jan 10, 1922
- Griffith elected president of Irish Free State
- Jan 10, 1923
- U.S. troops depart Germany
- Jan 10, 1946
- First meeting of the United Nations
- Jan 11, 1928
- Stalin banishes Trotsky
- Jan 11, 1935
- Earhart flies from Hawaii to California
- Jan 11, 1949
- Cornerstone laid at Washington's Islamic Center
- Jan 12, 1879
- British-Zulu War begins
- Jan 12, 1932
- First elected female senator
- Jan 12, 1984
- Pyramid mystery unearthed
- Jan 13, 1842
- Sole British soldier escapes Kabul
- Jan 13, 1864
- Stephen Foster dies
- Jan 13, 1941
- James Joyce dies
- Jan 14, 1639
- The first colonial constitution
- Jan 14, 1963
- George Wallace inaugurated as Alabama governor
- Jan 14, 1980
- Gold prices soar
- Jan 15, 1559
- Elizabeth crowned queen of England
- Jan 15, 1870
- First appearance of the Democratic donkey
- Jan 15, 1929
- Martin Luther King Jr. born
- Jan 15, 1970
- Biafra surrenders to Nigeria
- Jan 15, 1970
- Qaddafi becomes premier of Libya
- Jan 15, 2009
- Sully Sullenberger performs Miracle on the Hudson
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