August 26, 2006
jQuery 1.0 released
John Resig released jQuery 1.0 on August 26, 2006 — a JavaScript library for DOM traversal, events, and AJAX with a chainable APIApplication programming interface — a defined way for programs to talk to each other or to a service..
What it was for
jQuery (`$(selector).hide().fadeIn()`) hid browser quirks behind one syntax — plugins, animations, and `$.ajax` powered the Web 2.0 era before SPAs took over. WordPressA PHP CMS powering millions of sites — themes, plugins, and the block editor for publishing., Bootstrap, and countless themes shipped it by default; it taught a generation of front-end devs to treat the DOM as a queryable object graph.
People
- John Resig — creator
Why it's here
jQuery became the most widely used JavaScript library of the 2000s.
Why it mattered
Its selector engine and plugin ecosystem standardized client-side scripting before component frameworks.
What it solved
Cross-browser DOM and AJAX code required verbose, incompatible boilerplate.
Media
- ImagejQuery
Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Related
- AngularJS 0.9.0 open-sourcedOctober 20, 2010
- Bootstrap releasedAugust 19, 2011
- JavaScript ES5 standardizedDecember 3, 2009