If you're in marketing or sales, you've used PowerPoint at some point in your career.

Whether helping you present to colleagues about next quarter's marketing strategy or showcase your product to potential customers at a tradeshow, PowerPoint is likely one of your most useful tools.

A couple weeks ago, on April 20, the software turned 30 years old. Glisser, an audience participation software, put together a timeline homage to PowerPoint, sharing its history from 1984—before it was officially PowerPoint—through the present day.

The infographic contains little-known facts, such as that "PowerPoint was originally created to make it easier to prepare actual 35mm overhead projector transparencies," and that the US Army distributes "1,000 hours PowerPoint" patches to staff officers who use the software a lot.

So if that's the history of PowerPoint, what's the future? We'll see what the next 30 years bring.

For now, check out the infographic to see the evolution of PowerPoint:


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Happy 30th Birthday, PowerPoint! A Look at the History of the Presentation Powerhouse [Infographic]

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Laura Forer

Laura Forer is a freelance writer, email and content strategist, and crossword puzzle enthusiast. She's an assistant editor at MarketingProfs, where she manages infographic submissions, among other things.