History of PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL was created at UCB by a computer science professor named Michael Stonebraker. It was originally called Postgres. It was started in 1986 by professor stonebreaker as a follow-up project and a post Ingres project to overcome with the problems of contemporary database system. PostgreSQL is now the most advanced open-source database available anywhere.

Brief History:

1977-1985: A project called INGRES was developed.

• Proof-of-concept for relational databases.
• Established the company Ingres in 1980.
• Bought by Computer Associates in 1994.

1986-1994: POSTGRES

• Development of the concepts in INGRES with a focus on object orientation and the query language Quel.
• The code base of INGRES was not used as a basis for POSTGRES.
• Commercialized as Illustra (bought by Informix, bought by IBM).

1994-1995: Postgres95

• Support for SQL was added in 1994.
• Released as Postgres95 in 1995.
• Re-released as PostgreSQL 6.0 in 1996.
• Establishment of the PostgreSQL Global Development Team.