The History Of WordPress - You Wanted it and So You Got it
After posting the ‘History of Blogging’ a month ago there were a few of you that asked about the ‘History of WordPress’, well here it is for you 
Lets take a trip back into 2001…. ah 2001, some good times but one especially tragic time.
- January 15th 2001 – Wikipedia was founded.
- July 2nd 2001 – The first self contained artificial heart was implanted into Robert Tools.
- Sept 11th 2001 - Word Trade Center Tragedy
- October 23rd 2001 – Apple released the iPod.
- October 25th 2001 – Microsoft releases XP.
What also happened in 2001 is that b2 announced that it would no longer continue, so what happens next? Easy, Matt Mullenweg step’s into the picture. Since Matt used this software as his primary blogging software and it was announced that it would no longer continue, he decided that he would create folk software using the b2 codebase in 2003.
Soon Mike Little was contacted and together they would begin to develop a more modern style of software that would be up to date with web standards as well as Matt’s needs. It didn’t take long after that for both Matt and Mike to be joined by the original developer of b2 software, Michel Valdrighi.
Next comes the moment of truth, May 27th 2003. What happened on this day was the first release of WordPress 0.7. This version was XHTML 1.1 complaint and it had new default templates as well as a new admin interface.
Give the trio a little more time and on June 9th 2003, WordPress 0.71 was released. This release provided users with major updates for bug and security fixes as well as a speed-up performance of 300%. (That’s a lot of speed!) Also with this release users we’re introduced to the post status of ‘Publish, Draft and Private” and an even cleaner admin panel. It wasn’t long after the release of 0.71 came the release of 0.7.1.1 to fix a small bug.
- June 9th 2003 – The New Jersey Devil’s beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals to win their 3rd Stanley Cup Championship. The final score was 3-0. (Um, We think they DESTROYED them)
Are we all familiar with WordPress Codex? Well back on December 19th of 2003 we didn’t know it was WordPress Codex. We knew it as WordPress Wiki and it launched on this day and held all of the documentation for WordPress.
The next version of WordPress that graced our computers was known as 1.0. Also with this release came a large upgrade from the previous versions. What users we’re now seeing were: Edit link on posts and comments and there was another new admin interface. This happened on January 3rd 2004.
- January 3rd 2004 – Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes off of the coast of Egypt into the Red Sea killing all 148 aboard.
On January 25th 2004 the next version of WordPress 1.0.1 was released only weeks after the last. Why? Well this version helped to fix bugs, speed and some other miscellaneous features.
Users would then see the latest version of WordPress which included cosmetic fixes as well as move able type import improvements. This version was 1.0.2 and was released on March 14th 2004.
- March 14th 2004 – Two Suicide Bombers kill 11 Israeli civilians in Ashdod, Israel.
- March 14th 2004 – Jose Maria Aznar was defeated by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in the Spanish Legislative Election.
- March 14th 2004 – Vladmimir Putin wins a second term in the Russian Presidential Election.
Again just a few weeks later another release would happen. This time however there we’re massive changes. These changes included: Post Preview, New Plugin Architecture plus comment moderation system that was more advanced. This all happened on May 22nd of 2004 and the new version of WordPress was known as 1.2.
However on October 6th 2004 the new version 1.2.1 was then released to help fix some bugs and some minor security issues.
So let’s wait a few months here until December 15th 2004 which showed us the release of 1.2.2. This release helped with login issues, a security fix as well as some email encoding issues.
- December 15th 2004 – Albanian terrorists take a bus as well as its passenger’s hostage and demand 1 million Euros in ransom money. This happened in Athens Greece.
Again let’s skip ahead a couple of months, shall we? Let’s go to February 2005. What we get here is user 1.5 and this version is going to provide us with vital features. Vital features you ask? What kind of vital features? Well these features included: managing static page, new template/theme system, plus WordPress is also equipped with a new default template.
- February 15th 2005 – YouTube goes online!
- February 16th 2005 – The NHL cancels their entire 2004-2005 season, thus becoming the first North American professional league to cancel a full season due to labor disputes.
Let’s go all the way to December of 2005 now and take a quick look at WordPress 2.0. What users received in this version was rich editing, better admin tools, faster posting, image uploading, a completely overhauled back end and an improved import system.
- December 16th 2008 – The 43rd Mersenne Prime is found: 230,402,457 this was discovered by Dr. Curtis Cooper and Dr. Steven Boone. Both we’re professors at the Central Missouri State University.
- December 31st 2005 – Another second has been added: 23:59:60, called a leap second, to end 2005. The last time that this happened was June 30th 1998.
Next on our list we are going to January 22nd 2007 when the next major upgrade happens, now we are looking at WordPress 2.1. This version featured: redesigned interface as well as enhanced editing tools. By enhanced we mean spell check and auto save. Plus users would see a variety of code and database optimizations and improved content management options.
- January 22nd 2007 – A bombing that occurs in a Baghdad market kills 88 people.
Let’s bump on ahead to May 16th 2007 where we are introduced to Version 2.2 which includes widget support for our templates, an updated Atom feed support as well as speed optimizations. Initially with the release of 2.2 users we’re suppose to see a revised taxonomy system for their categories as well as tags, however due to a proposed revision this feature was held back.
- May 16th 2007 – Nicolas Sarkozy takes over Jacques Chirac to become President of the French Republic.
And to end off the year of 2007 let’s take a look at WordPress 2.3 which debuted on the 24th of September. Now users would receive their new taxonomy system for categories, as well as easy notification of their updates and other interface improvements. This version also fully supported Atom 1.0
- September 24th 2008 – India wins the ICC Twenty20 World Cup by beating out Pakistan by 5 runs.
- September 24th 2008 – Gordon Brown addresses delegates for the first time as the Prime Minister in Bournemouth at the Labor Party Conferences.
Now our Journey leads us into 2008 where we are first introduced to WordPress 2.5 on March 29th. Now the release of 2.4 was skipped so that 2.5 would contain two releases worth of new code. When users received this version they were introduced with a complete overhaul of the admin interface, plus, the WordPress website was redesigned to match this new style.
- March 29th 2008 – Parliamentary and Presidential elections in Zimbabwe.
And now we have WordPress version 2.6 which was released on July 15th 2008. This new version contains a more powerful CMS plus a dozen or more incremental improvements to the features that we’re introduced in 2.5
- July 15th 2008 – World Youth Day begins in Sydney Australia. Pope Benedict XVI appears at the event and the event ends five day’s later on July 20th 2008.
Are many of you familiar with all of the different code names for WordPress?
Let’s take a look at them, shall we?
- WordPress 1.0.1 – A.K.A. Miles
- WordPress 1.0.2 – A.K.A. Blakey
- WordPress 1.2 – A.K.A. Mingus
- WordPress 1.5 – A.K.A. Strayhorn
- WordPress 2.0 – A.K.A. Duke
- WordPress 2.0.5 – A.K.A. Ronan
- WordPress 2.1 – A.K.A. Ella
- WordPress 2.2 – A.K.A. Getz
- WordPress 2.6 – A.K.A. Tyner
Ever wonder where all of these ‘code names’ come from? Well each major release was named after a famous jazz musician.
So there you have it. You asked for a history of WordPress and we gave you one. Hopefully you liked it.
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I had no clue! WordPress has come along way over the years! I am excited to see what it will be in 5 more years!
Work At Home Mom Taras last blog post..New Look Blog Contest
“Well each major release was named after a famous jazz musician.” woow man
never knew it!
Hope to see wp 80.2 aka Johncow
Rockstar Sids last blog post..Search Song title,unknown track song and Artist Information freely
It is interesting watching wordpress develop into a great bloggong platform.
I like how they intergrate really good plugins into their script so it makes it easier for the users to use.
I like how the use the jazz peson name with each new release. Its kind of catchy
Bruno Augers last blog post..Don’t be a Victim of Social Networking Online
Where would we be without WordPress? No other blogging platform comes close…
I love wordpress. It’s no wonder that Matt is a multi-millionaire now.
Andre Thomass last blog post..Just How Much Do We Hate To Be Wrong?
[...] The History of WordPress, by John Cow→ [...]
This is really interesting to know. I love wordpress and use it on all my blogs. It is so simple, so easy…and so free.
Thanks for the post
Useless in some ways, but kinda useful
Ryan McLeans last blog post..Should You Pay For Information Starting Out
It’s really good describing about the history of word press.Thank u.
Antolias last blog post..Garland, Texas
If you think about it that is a VERY fast rise for a software platform that is now used by tens of millions of people. Very cool history and thank you for posting it!
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Last Blog Post: “10 Reasons Why Neither Political Party Is For Me” at http://www.PoliticalDisgust.com
Political Disgusts last blog post..Beyond The Music, Fireworks, & Michael McDonald
Haven’t found anything quite as easy! Thanks for a great post, a little trivia makes the day.
Kevin
kdpems last blog post..Generator Reliability is Paramount
Wow. Nice list. Its worth a link love.
Ganeshs last blog post..Goals for September
Yeah, thank heavens for WordPress, it is really awesome. I’ve just taken it for granted that’s it always been so good though, it’s interesting to see all the time and updates it has taken to get it to where it is today. It’s been a rough few years in the news though.
Dot Com Duds last blog post..My first blog contest
[...] The History Of WordPress - You Wanted it and So You Got it After posting the ‘History of Blogging’ a month ago there were a few of you that asked about the ‘History of WordPress’, well here it is for you Lets take a trip back into 2001…. ah 2001, some good times but one especially tragic time. [...]