In less than a decade, Bitcoin has gone from concept to niche cryptocurrency, and recently it has made significant inroads into the mainstream. Whether it ultimately endures or fails, Bitcoin's history is unfolding before our eyes.
As the price of a solitary Bitcoin skyrocketed from less than $200 to more than $1,000 in late 2013, a spectrum of retailers have tried to capitalize on the buzz by accepting Bitcoin as payments. But from its anonymous creator "Satoshi Nakamoto" to its complex "mining" process to its connection to cybercrime, Bitcoin can be a lot to digest for those who are new to the concept.
See also: Bitcoin: How the Internet Created Its Own Currency
Rob Lons, 28, counted himself among those newbies when he first learned of Bitcoin in early 2013, but he quickly became "captivated by the concept" and wanted to learn more. Lons said he felt there was no central hub that told the story of Bitcoin as a narrative, so he decided to create one for himself. In a few months time, he pulled more than 150 entries into an interactive timeline, telling the history of Bitcoin.
"I wanted to know more about the early days of Bitcoin," Lons told Mashable. "After seeing the lack of information on the [Bitcoin Wiki] and how little concentrated information there was on the history of Bitcoin, I felt it would be an important endeavor."
Lons has further integrated himself into the Bitcoin world as the co-founder of BitcoinWebHosting, a company that sells Internet services to Bitcoin companies. As someone who's both interested and invested in the currency, Lons said he feels it's important for people to be able to get an accurate characterization of it. (Much of the attention Bitcoin gets is because of its connection to illicit activity, most notably the online drug marketplace, Silk Road.)
The timeline Lons created is embedded below, and it's also viewable at his History of Bitcoin website. Scroll through the cryptocurrency's milestones from its mysterious origins to the Genesis Block to where we are today.

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BONUS: What Are Bitcoins and How Do They Work?