Commodore Business Machines

Founded 1954 in Toronto, Canada, as Commodore Portable Typewriter Company, manufacturing typewriters and adding machines; incorporated as Commodore Business Machines, Inc. (CBM) in 1955; public holding company Commodore International Limited floated in 1962; began manufacturing electronic calculators in the 1970s; launched Commodore PET home computer in 1977; Commodore 64 launched in 1982; bought Amiga Corporation in 1984, which became a subsidiary named Commodore Amiga Inc., manufacturing games consoles; however a series of damaging lawsuits eventually resulted in Commodore being declared bankrupt in 1994.