Summary: A few interesting dates

• May 1992 - First meeting with Applied Geometry (AG). AG came to us for assistance in integrating their AGLib, NURBS geometry library in AutoCAD. AG customers included Alias Research, Spatial, Honda, and Tecnomatix.
• Jul 1992 - Produced prototype in AutoCAD after about three days of work.
• Nov 1992 - McNeel/AG agreement to develop AccuModel, NURBS modeling for AutoCAD. McNeel would do the marketing and AG would do all the development. McNeel would provide AutoCAD development support as needed.
• Nov 1992 - Michael Gibson hired as an intern. He brought Sculptura, a mesh modeler he had done as a class project.
• Mar 1993 - Sculptura released.
• Mar 1993 - McNeel takes over as the lead on the AccuModel development.
• Jul 1993 - Sculptura 2 prototype ready for NURBS.
• Nov 1993 - Sculptura 2 nicknamed Rhinoceros.
• Jan 1994 - New McNeel/AG agreement. McNeel licensed AGLib from AG, and AG was to provide the needed AGLib enhancements and maintenance.
• Apr 1994 - Rhino beta released on the Graphic Alternative BBS. This was our first version of a public beta program.
• May 1994 - Dr. Dale Lear. We found that we needed in-house geometry expertise to develop the functionality and usability required by our clients.
• May 1994 - Alias Research agrees to purchase AG. Alias was AG's largest customer, and they felt that one of their advantages was the geometry technology.
• May 1994 - First commercial products completed using AccuModel. For example, Ed Monk & Son Naval Architect released an 82-foot sports fishing boat.
• Jul 1994 - Geometry development begins in earnest.
• Aug 1994 - Sculptura renamed Rhinoceros after we determined that we could not resolve the trademark problems with AccuModel.
• Aug 1994 - Private showing of Rhino at SIGGRAPH.
• Nov 1994 - Sale of AG to Alias final.
• Mar 1995 - McNeel provides Alias with the first installment of geometry technology.
• Jun 1995 - Alias purchased by Silicon Graphics.
• Jun 1995 - McNeel receives the last update of AGLib.
• May 1997 - Last build of AccuModel for AutoCAD. As the Rhino product progressed, we decided focusing on the Windows version would be better.
• Sep 1997 - 50,000 beta sites and growing fast without any promotional effort on our part.
• Jul 1998 - 100,000 beta sites.
• Jul 1998 - Announced October release at SIGGRAPH.
• Oct 1998 - Rhino version 1.0 released.
• Dec 1998 - First 5,000 shipped.
• Jan 1999 - Japanese version released
• Jan 1999 - First public beta of 1.1 released.
• Jan 1999 - First European reseller meeting in Barcelona.
• Mar 1999 - First third-party book on Rhino published.
• May 1999 - Korean version released.
• Aug 2000 - First public beta of Rhino 2.0 and Flamingo released.
• Aug 2001 - Rhino 2.0 shipped.
• Dec 2001 - Flamingo shipped.
• Nov 2002 - Rhino 3.0 released.
• Dec 2002 - Flamingo 1.1 released.
• Jul 2003 - Penguin 1.0 released.
• Jul 2004 - Bongo 1.0 released.
• Feb 2007 - Rhino 4.0 released.
• Dec 2007 - Penguin 2.0 released.
• Mar 2008 - Added Grasshopper to Rhino for Windows.
• Sep 2010 - First RhinoFabLab opened.
• Apr 2011 - Online training launched.
• Apr 2012 - Flamingo nXt released.
• Oct 2012 - Rhino 5 for Windows released.
• Jan 2013 - Zoo 5 released (completely rewritten).
• Sep 2013 - Bongo 2.0 released.
• Feb 2015 - Electronic shipping begins worldwide.
• Jun 2015 - Rhino 5 for Mac released.
• Jan 2016 - First beta of Grasshopper for Mac.
• Feb 2018 - Rhino 6 for Windows released.
• Jul 2019 - Rhino 6 for Mac released.
• Nov 2020 - Rhino 7 for Mac and Windows released.
• Dec 2020 - Rhino.Inside.Revit released.
• Oct 2023 - Rhino 8 for Mac and Windows released.