Milestones along the way in Watson's colorful history

How did IBM's Watson get to where it is today? Here are some key events that happened along the way.
May 1997: Deep Blue conquers chessIBM's Deep Blue computer beats world chess champion Garry Kasparov in a six-game match that lasts several days and receives massive media coverage around the world. It also inspires researchers at IBM to undertake an even bigger challenge: build a computer that could beat the champions at Jeopardy.
February 2011: Victorious at JeopardyWatson competes on Jeopardy