In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published a paper entitled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System which outlines the fundamental concepts that Bitcoin is built upon. In January 2009, the first block was mined and the Bitcoin client was released to the public thus creating the Bitcoin network.
In 2010, the first transactions were brokered on bitcointalk.org and one user famously purchased about $25 worth of pizza for 10,000 bitcoins. The awareness of Bitcoin as well as the value of bitcoins slowly increased.
In June of 2011, with rising interest, the value of a bitcoin quickly rose to $30 USD, but then plummeted down to below $2 by October. For the rest of 2011 and most of 2012, Bitcoin began to see a significant growth in online awareness of it.
In March and April of 2012, the value of a bitcoin quickly rose from around $50 until reaching an all-time high of $266 USD per bitcoin. At $266, the value crashed down to $76 and then settled back at $160 all within about six hours.