Steve Jobs Success Story and Timeline of Health [PHOTOS]

Apple's former CEO Steve Jobs died on Wednesday, family and the company have confirmed. He fought a rare kind of pancreatic cancer and had undergone a liver transplant.

Jobs resigned from the position on Aug. 24, marking an end to his 14 years as the top brass of the consumer electronics store he co-founded in a garage. He stayed on and became a part of the company's board.

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come, Jobs stated in a brief letter when he announced his resignation.

Here's a timeline of Jobs' life including his health woes.

1955: Steve Jobs is born to Joanne Carole Schieble and Abdulfattah John Jandali, a young unwed couple in San Francisco, Calif. on Feb. 24. He was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View, Calif.

1974: Jobs landed at videogame company Atari Inc. and resigned after months to go to India.

1975:Jobs and his friend Steve Wozniak created a prototype computer in his parents' garage. A year later, they both co-founded Apple Computer to sell their machines. They started out with the Apple I.

1977: The Apple II is launched and became the first successful mass-market computer. It stayed in production for 16 years.

1980: Apple III launched as a commercial failure because of faulty construction.

1983: Apple launched the Lisa, which was also unsuccessful. It was the the first personal computer controlled by on-screen icons activated at the click of a mouse.

1984: Apple launched the Macintosh computer that had disappointing sales, but received good reviews.

1985: Apple closed half of its six factories. They also downsized by more than 1,000 employees and declared a quarterly loss. Jobs goes head-to-head with John Sculley in a boardroom battle. He lost and was forced out of Apple.

1986: Jobs bought the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd. This company was owned by Star Wars director George Lucas. Jobs then created what is now known as Pixar Animation Studios.

1987: Macintosh II is launched.

1988: Jobs founded NeXT Computer, but it only sold 50,000 computers.

1995: Pixar releases Toy Story, the first full-length computer animated film. Jobs was CEO and the film got worldwide success.

1996: Apple buys NeXT for $429m and used Jobs' technology to build the next generation of its own software.

1997: Jobs became an interin CEO at Apple.

1998: The iMac launched. It is a self-contained computer and monitor.

2001:The first iPod is sold in October and was a commercial success.

2003: The iTunes music store is launched in April.

2004: Jobs told employees he underwet a successful operation to remove a cancerous tumor in his pancreas. he told employees in an email to employees that his cancer was rare, but a treatable form of the disease. I will not require any chemotherapy or radiation treatments. Jobs said. The far more common form of pancreatic cancer... is currently not curable and usually carries a life expectancy of about one year. I mention this because when one hears 'pancreatic cancer' (or Googles it) one immediately encounters this far more common and deadly form, which, thank God, is not what I had.

2005: Jobs gave an inspiring commencement speech to young Stanford University graduates. He spoke about his health and life in itself, passing on his life's wisdom.

2006: Jobs' delivers keynote speech at the Apple Computer Worldwide Developers Conference. Some saw that Jobs wasn't as lively as he used to be. It sparked both disappointment and concern. Cnet News writes that Apple fans were uninspired (and concerned) by Jobs' delivery. Some questioned why he shared his presentation with a team of assistants, blogger Michelle Meyers said. Is he sick, simply grooming others for leadership, or both? Wired's Leander Kahney wrote that Jobs looks very thin, almost gaunt. Apple responded noting that Steve's health is robust and we have no idea where these rumors are coming from.

2007:The first iPhone is launched and Jobs also decided to drop the computer from Apple's name.

March 2008: A Fortune magazine report claimed that Jobs hid his battle with cancer for nine months before revealing it to anyone outside his intimate circles. The article also claimed that Jobs, a Buddhist and vegetarian, considered not having surgery at all, after receiving his diagnosis. Jobs didn't comment for the article.

June 2008: Photos taken at a WWDC conference in San Francisco showed a thin-looking Jobs, and Apple Insider reported that a spokesperson said Jobs was plagued by a 'common bug' in recent weeks, but that he felt it essential that he make good on delivering the opening keynote address at the annual developer conference.

August 2008: The Bloomberg financial newswire decided to update its 17-page Steve Jobs obituary today — and inadvertently published it in the process, Gawker reported. The obit, which was quickly removed, and reports are tha it contained blank spaces for Jobs' age and cause of death to be added.

December 2008: Jobs said he will not give the keynote address at the final Macworld Conference and Expo in 2009. This announcement also ignited rumors about his health.

January 2009: Jobs told employees he is being treated for a hormone imbalance that has been robbing me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. He added he was being treated and would continue his role as leader of the company.A week later, Jobs told employees, my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought. He announced a six-month leave of absence and gave gives Tim Cook the position of acting CEO.

June 2009: News surfaced that Jobs had successful liver transplant and is recovering.

2010: The iPad launched in April and 3 million devices are sold in 80 days. Nearly 15 million iPads were sold worldwide by the end of the year. Apple's annual sales reach $65 billion, an increase from the reported $8 billionn in 2000.

January 2011: Apple announced that Jobs took a leave of absence again. Jobs told employees in a message, I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy. Jobs managed to make several Apple-related appearances, including at the iPad 2 launch event.

August 2011: Jobs announced his resignation from as Apple CEO on August 24. In a brief letter to employees, Jobs said, I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

Oct. 5, 2011: Apple announced Steve Jobs died one day after iphone 4S was unveiled.

Start the slideshow to see Steve Job's declining health in photos.

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