February 4: Facebook was launched (2004)

Facebook, the most used social network service globally, was launched on February 4, 2004. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard dropout, with his college roommates and fellow students. The story around the foundation of the company and conflicts among the founders inspired the movie The Social Network. As of December 31, 2011, the service has 845 million active users and it is the second most accessed web site in the US according to the Nielsen Media Research study. Facebook filed for a $5 billion initial public offering on February 1, 2012. The IPO would value the company between $75 billion and $100 billion, which would be the largest Internet IPO in the world.

December 12: Apple Computer's IPO (1980)

Apple launched the initial public offering  (IPO) of its stock to the public on the NASDAQ market under the stock symbol "AAPL". The IPO generated more capital than any other IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956 and created more millionaires than any company in history. Steve Jobs, co-founder and the largest shareholder of the company, held stock valued at $217 million. After the launch of Macintosh, Steve Jobs was ousted and the company was run by CEOs Sculley, Spindler, and Amelio; during the period, the company was gradually losing its creativity, innovation and value. While the company was near bankruptcy, Steve Jobs returned to the company and made a great turnaround with fascinating products and innovative business model. Steve Job remained as the Chairman of the company board until his departure on October 5, 2011 at his age of 56. Apple became an iconic company with countless followers (or consumers).