February 22, 2001: The iMac Special Edition, sporting custom Flower Power and Blue Dalmatian designs, puts a wacky face on the computer that saved Apple’s bacon at the turn of the century.

A far cry from the super-serious, aluminum-heavy industrial design that will come to define Apple, these colorfully patterned iMacs are some of the most irreverent computers Cupertino ever dreamed up. (C’mon, when was a real Dalmatian blue?)

Under the consciously tacky exterior hummed a pretty darn great iMac G3, though.

On this day in 1984, the first Macintosh computers started shipping. Who could have imagined that 36 years later to the day, this iconic machine would be commemorated with a tiny plush pillow that fits in your hand?

Only one person possesses this kind of vision – Roberto Hoyos. His Throwboy brand is launching a crowdfunding campaign today for two new plush Mac toys.

December 5, 2002: Cupertino says it served its millionth unique customer in the Apple Store online, marking a significant milestone for the company.

It is a benchmark worth celebrating for Apple, which launched its online store just five years earlier.

August 15, 1998: The iMac G3 — Apple’s brightly colored, translucent Macintosh relaunch — goes on sale to a rabid audience.

Steve Jobs’ first major new product since returning to Apple, the internet-ready iMac cements his legacy as a forward-thinking tech visionary. It also introduces the world to the design talents of Jony Ive — and pretty much saves Apple in the process.

Just another day at the office, eh?

May 6, 1998: Steve Jobs unveils the iMac G3, a brightly colored, translucent computer that will help save Apple.

Ten months after Jobs’ new management team takes over, the iMac loudly announces that the days of Apple quietly fading into the background are over.

Today marks 35 years since the launch of the original Macintosh computer, the product which most defined Apple until the iPod and iPhone came along years later. The Mac changed the course of personal computing history, and started a product line which Apple continues today. But which Macs along the way rank as the biggest game changers?

We went right back to the start to bring you our picks for the top 20 most important Macs of all time.

Before the brushed aluminum and sharp angles of today’s desktop Mac, the iMac G3 was bulbous, plastic and colorful. Some would say cute.

Toy designer Philip Lee raises the cute factor on the beloved piece of personal computing history with two new Classicbots that come in tangerine and Bondi blue.

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Apple’s colorful iMac G3, the computer Steve Jobs said looked good enough to lick. While Apple has long since moved away from this fun design in favor of the sleekly minimalist iMac of today, Apple fans still remember the G3 fondly.

One of those fans, talented designer Antonio De Rosa, recently paid homage to Apple’s first-gen iMac by putting together a concept design for what a new iMac in the same style might look like. Would you buy one?

Do you know your Sage from your Grape? How about your Bondi Blue from your Graphite? And who in their right mind could forget Flower Power or Blue Dalmatian?

If you know your Apple trivia, you’ll recognize all of those as “flavors” of the iconic iMac G3, which launched twenty years ago today. To celebrate the occasion, the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan is showing off all 13 colors of the iconic “computer that saved Apple.”

The first iMac’s frightful code name was an in-joke that reflected Steve Jobs’ respect for Sony.

The working name — “MacMan” — was so horrible it would “curdle your blood,” according to Ken Segall, the Apple exec who eventually came up with the name “iMac.” Nearly 20 years after Apple shipped the iMac G3, we now have an explanation for the craptacular internal name — courtesy of Phil Schiller, the guy who came up with it.