1996: Cloudscape Inc. formed to develop Java database technology
1997: First release of JBMS (relational database engine)
1998: JBMS is renamed Cloudscape
1999: Cloudscape Inc. is acquired by Informix Software
2001: Informix Software is acquired by IBM
2001 - 2004: IBM embeds Cloudscape into products such as WebSphere Application Server, WebSphere Studio Application Developer, etc...
2004: Cloudscape source is contributed to the Apache Software Foundation as Apache Derby, an incubator project

July 26, 2005: Apache Software Foundation Incubator Project Management Committee votes in favour of graduating Derby to a full sub-project of Apache DB!