TORONTO, CANADA: Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the tandem who led the company that makes the BlackBerry smartphone for two decades, have stepped down as co-CEO and co-chairman of Research In Motion.

Here is major milestones in the history of the Canadian company:

February 1985 - Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin co-found Research In Motion as an electronics and computer science business based in Waterloo, Ontario, the Canadian university city where Lazaridis studied.

1989 - RIM develops a network gateway later introduced as RIMGate, a predecessor to its BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

1992 - Jim Balsillie joins RIM as co-CEO, mortgaging his house and investing $250,000.

1994 - RIM launches handheld point of sale card reader, which verified debit and credit transactions directly to a bank.

1995 - RIM builds its own radio modem for wireless email.

1997 - RIM lists on the Toronto Stock Exchange, raising more than $115 million.

January, 1999 - RIM launches rebranded BlackBerry email service across North America, offering the first wireless device to synch with corporate email systems. Sales jump 80 percent to $85 million. The next year revenue is $221 million.

Late 1999 - The company shares are listed on Nasdaq, raising another $250 million. RIM introduces BlackBerry 850 Wireless Handheld, combining email, wireless data networks and a Qwerty keyboard. Demand explodes.

September 11, 2001 - People trapped in New York's World Trade Center use BlackBerrys to communicate after cellular networks collapse.

November, 2001 - NTP sues RIM for patent infringement, the start of a five-year legal tussle. Late in the battle, the U.S. Justice Department says a threatened BlackBerry shutdown would damage the public interest due to their heavy use by government.

2002 - RIM adds voice transmission to the BlackBerry.

2004 - Surpasses one million BlackBerry subscribers.

March, 2006 - RIM pays $612 million to settle NTP dispute.

January, 2007 - Apple's Steve Jobs unveils first iPhone, which launches in June. Time names it Invention of the Year.

October 2007 - RIM passes 10 million subscribers. News of a China distribution deal boosts shares, making it for a time the most valuable company in Canada by market capitalization.

November, 2007 - Google's open source Android platform is unveiled. It launches in October 2008.

May, 2008 - RIM introduces the Bold, a major refresh and still one of its top-tier products. The new model matches the resolution, but not size, of Apple's iPhone screen.

July, 2008 - Apple opens App Store and releases iPhone 3G, preloaded with App Store support, in 22 countries.

November 2008 - RIM launches BlackBerry Storm, its first touchscreen and keyboard-less device. The screen uses a tactile feedback technology known as haptics, which allows a user to click down to select actions. It bombs.

April, 2009 - RIM's App World goes live.

June, 2009 - Apple announces and releases iPhone 3GS.

June, 2010 - RIM pays C$200 million for QNX Software Systems, getting an industrial-strength operating system used in massive Internet routers, nuclear power plants and car infotainment systems. In same month Apple launches iPhone 4.