Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in Bellevue, Washington, initially as an online marketplace for books. The company later expanded into various product categories and subsidiaries, becoming a major player in e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital streaming.

Amazon officially opened as an online bookseller, offering the world's largest collection of books to customers with internet access. The company quickly gained traction, selling to all 50 states and over 45 countries within the first two months.

Amazon issued its initial public offering of capital stock on May 15, 1997, trading under the NASDAQ stock exchange symbol AMZN. This marked a significant milestone in the company's growth and success.

Less than a year after the company had gone public, Amazon made its first three acquisitions on April 27, 1998, marking a significant expansion of its portfolio.

Amazon launched AWS in 2002, initially focusing on providing APIs for web developers and later expanding to offer enterprise services like Simple Storage Service (S3) and Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).

On February 22, 2000, Amazon patented an Internet-based customer referral system known as an affiliate program, which led to criticism from industry leaders and a petition to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to avoid limiting the further development of Internet commerce.

In June 19, 2000, Amazon's logotype was updated to feature a curved arrow leading from A to Z, symbolizing the company's wide range of products. The arrow was designed to resemble a smile.

On February 25, 2003, Amazon received a patent for a 'Method and system for conducting a discussion relating to an item on Internet discussion boards'.

Amazon launches its subscription service, Amazon Prime, offering free two-day shipping on eligible purchases for a flat annual fee.

On May 12, 2006, the US Patent and Trademark Office ordered a re-examination of the 1-Click patent based on a request by actor Peter Calveley, citing an earlier e-commerce patent and the Digicash electronic cash system.

On September 25, 2007, Amazon Music, an online music store, was launched as Amazon MP3 in the US selling downloads exclusively in MP3 format without digital rights management.

Amazon's first e-reader, Kindle, was launched, allowing users to browse, buy and read e-books, magazines and newspapers from the Kindle Store.

In January 31, 2008, Amazon announced it would buy Audible for about $300 million. The deal closed in March 2008 and Audible became a subsidiary of Amazon.

After the announcement of the Apple iPad on January 27, 2010, Macmillan Publishers began a pricing dispute with Amazon about electronic publications, resulting in Amazon pulling all Macmillan books from its website.

A controversy arose when Amazon marketed an e-book by Phillip R. Greaves entitled The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-lover's Code of Conduct. The book was criticized as a 'pedophile guide' and led to threats of boycott against Amazon. The company initially defended its action but later removed the book.

Amazon stopped hosting the website associated with WikiLeaks, citing a violation of its terms of service. This decision led to public criticism and calls for a boycott of Amazon.

Amazon launched the Amazon Appstore for Android devices on March 22, 2011, making the service available in over 200 countries.

On May 23, 2011, Amazon.com allowed customers to download Lady Gaga's Born This Way album for 99 cents, resulting in some downloads being delayed due to an extremely high volume of downloads.

On October 18, 2011, Amazon announced a partnership with DC Comics for the exclusive digital rights to popular comics. This caused well-known bookstores like Barnes & Noble to remove these titles from their shelves.

Amazon Local was gradually launched in the United Kingdom on August 29, 2012, starting in London and expanding to more towns and cities.

On September 25, 2013, Amazon.com unveiled its third generation tablet, called the Kindle Fire HDX.

Amazon launched Kindle MatchBook on October 29, 2013, allowing customers who buy books from Amazon to acquire an e-book copy for free or at a discounted price.

On February 6, 2014, Amazon confirmed the acquisition of the gaming company Double Helix Games, with the 75 employees becoming Amazon employees and their headquarters remaining in Orange County, California. This acquisition was part of Amazon's commitment to building innovative games for customers.

Amazon's line of streaming media players and digital devices, Fire TV, was launched to deliver streamed video content over the internet to a paired high-definition television.

On August 25, 2014, Amazon announced its intent to acquire the video game streaming website Twitch for $970 million. The acquisition was expected to help Amazon drive Internet traffic, boost its Prime membership program, and promote its video ad and Fire TV set top box business.

On August 25, 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch Interactive for US$970 million in an all-cash deal after Google backed out due to antitrust concerns. This acquisition marked Amazon's entry into the video gaming industry.

The acquisition of Twitch by Amazon closed on September 25, 2014, solidifying Amazon's ownership of the popular streaming platform.

Amazon introduced Alexa, a cloud-based, AI-powered, voice-controlled personal assistant designed to answer queries, interact with users, and perform other tasks and commands.

On April 28, 2015, the limited-scope service of Amazon Supply was replaced with Amazon Business. Amazon Business is a service that provides registered business owners with a consolidated platform for buying products and supplies from Amazon.

On September 30, 2015, Amazon announced the launch of Merch by Amazon, a service to help content creators generate revenue through the sale of branded merchandise items.

On October 1, 2015, Amazon announced a ban on the sale of Apple TV and Google Chromecast products by all merchants, which was criticized as an attempt to suppress products competing with Amazon Fire TV products.

On November 2, 2015, Amazon opened its first physical retail store, a bookstore in the University Village shopping center in Seattle. The store, known as Amazon Books, has prices matched to those found on the Amazon website (for Prime members) and integrate online reviews into the store's shelves.

On December 18, 2015, Amazon Local stopped selling daily deals, although purchased deals remained valid according to its terms.

Apple filed a trademark-infringement case against Mobile Star LLC for selling counterfeit Apple products to Amazon. The case highlighted Amazon's issue with selling counterfeit products, which has attracted widespread attention and led to safety concerns.

Amazon acquired Souq.com, the former largest e-commerce platform in the Arab world, for $580 million. The company was re-branded as Amazon and its infrastructure was used to expand Amazon's online platform in the Middle East.

Amazon diversified its acquisition portfolio by purchasing the grocery store chain Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion on June 16, 2017, marking one of its largest acquisitions.

On January 22, 2018, Amazon Go, a store that uses cameras and sensors to detect items that a shopper grabs off shelves and automatically charges a shopper's Amazon account, was opened to the general public in Seattle. Customers scan their Amazon Go app as they enter, and are required to have an Amazon Go app installed on their smartphone and a linked Amazon account to be able to enter.

Spanish unions called on 1,000 Amazon workers to strike with complaints about wage cuts, working conditions, and restrictions on time off.

As of August 8, 2018, Amazon held about a 5 percent share of US retail spending and a 43.5 percent share of American online spending. The forecast indicated Amazon's dominance in the American online spending market.

Sanders and Ro Khanna introduced the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies (Stop BEZOS) Act on September 5, 2018, aimed at Amazon and other reported beneficiaries of corporate welfare.

Amazon announced to debut the Amazon 4-star in New York, Soho neighborhood Spring Street between Crosby and Lafayette on 27 September 2018. The store carries the 4-star and above rated products from around New York. The amazon website searches for the most rated, highly demanded, frequently bought and most wished for products which are then sold in the new amazon store under separate categories.

On October 2, 2018, Amazon announced that its minimum wage for all American employees would be raised to $15 per hour.

On November 11, 2019, Amazon announced plans to open a new type of grocery store in Los Angeles in 2020. In August 2020, Amazon revealed the name, Amazon Fresh. The chain's concept was the use of Dash Carts, which have screens and a scanner for a special code that is connected to the user's Amazon account.

From March 17 to April 10, 2020, Amazon warehouses stopped accepting non-essential items from third-party sellers due to the surge in online shopping and shortages of household staples caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Amazon warehouse protest in Staten Island led to the firing of its organizer, Christian Smalls, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2020, workers at the Staten Island warehouse staged a walkout to protest the poor health situation at their workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizer Chris Smalls was put on quarantine and later fired from the company.

France's SUD trade unions brought a court case against Amazon for unsafe working conditions, leading to the closure of its six warehouses in France.

Amazon announced The Climate Pledge in 2020, committing to be net-zero carbon by 2040. This initiative demonstrates Amazon's focus on sustainability and environmental responsibility.

On September 24, 2020, Amazon announced Amazon Luna, a cloud gaming service with an initial library of around 100 titles.

On December 4, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that Amazon had illegally fired two employees in retaliation for efforts to organize workers.

On December 16, 2020, Amazon removed the ability for sellers and customers to comment on product reviews and deleted all posted product review comments. This decision was justified by Amazon due to the infrequent use of the comments feature on customer reviews.

Amazon India launched Amazon Academy, formerly JEE Ready, on 13 January 2021. It is an online learning platform for engineering students to prepare for competitive exams like the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).

On February 2, 2021, Jeff Bezos announced his decision to step down as CEO of Amazon, transitioning to the role of executive chair of the board.

Amazon entered negotiations to acquire MGM for an estimated $9 billion due to MGM's poor financial performance from the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the movie industry.

Amazon and MGM agreed to a merger deal for a total value of $8.45 billion, allowing Amazon to add the MGM library to the Amazon Prime Video catalog.

Former CEO of AWS, Andy Jassy, officially replaced Jeff Bezos as the CEO of Amazon on July 5, 2021, marking a significant leadership transition.

The official opening of Amazon's second headquarters, HQ2, is captured in 21 photos, showcasing the offices and amenities now accessible to the neighborhood.

Amazon announces plans to build an $11 billion data center campus in northern Indiana, aiming to expand its technological infrastructure in the region.

Amazon announced the closure of all 4-star stores, along with their Books and Pop Up stores, across the US and the UK, refocusing on their grocery and fashion stores.

The merger of Amazon and MGM was finalized, allowing Amazon to integrate MGM's library into Amazon Prime Video and continue to partner with United Artists Releasing.

Amazon filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleging that the agency's structure infringes on the company's right to a jury trial. The company also contended that the restrictions on the removal of administrative judges and the board's presidentially appointed members are unconstitutional.

On November 14, 2022, Amazon announced plans to lay off 10,000 employees among its corporate and technology staff, with the number increasing to 18,000 in a January 2023 announcement. In March, an additional 9,000 jobs were announced to be eliminated.

On January 18, 2023, Amazon announced that it would be winding down AmazonSmile on February 20, 2023, to focus on philanthropic giving programs.

Tips and tricks on becoming an Amazon product tester to receive freebies and discounts.

A guide on purchasing and reselling Amazon pallets successfully without encountering failures.

An exploration of how Chinese sellers are influencing and manipulating the Amazon marketplace in 2024.

On September 25, 2023, Amazon and artificial intelligence startup Anthropic announced a strategic partnership, with Amazon becoming a minority stakeholder by investing up to US$4 billion. Anthropic would use Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its primary cloud provider and make its AI models available to AWS customers.

In 2024, Amazon made 7 key announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). These announcements were likely related to new products, services, or technological advancements.

As of January 31, 2024, Amazon's market value was reported to be 1,605,288 million USD, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy emphasized the significance of generative AI applications and mentioned that virtually every customer experience is going to be reinvented by generative AI. He highlighted that every part of Amazon is working on generative AI applications.

Donovan Taylor, an IT consultant, enrolled in Amazon's Mechatronics and Robotics Apprenticeship after completing the Unmudl training program. He is guaranteed a new job when he completes the program in June.

Amazon placed an order for 100,000 electric delivery vans from Rivian by 2030 as part of their Climate Pledge to achieve net zero carbon by 2040.