Designed by Frederico Faggin and Masatoshi Shima, Zilog's Z80 was a software-compatible but cheaper version of Intel's 8080 processor. 

Launched in 1976, it helped kick-start the home computer revolution - along with MOS Technology's 6502 - with both chips dominating the market for the rest of the 1970s and into the 1980s.

It found its way into Radio Shack's TRS-80, Sega's Master System, various Amstrad micros including the PCW 8256, and many of Sinclair's top-selling machines, including the ZX81 and the ZX Spectrum. 

It also formed a symbiotic relationship with the early operating system CP/M, with both appearing on hundreds of CP/M business computers, many of which seemed to be on the market for only a few months at a time.