Steve Jobs Facts: Five Things You Did Not Know About the Apple Visionary

So, as you've probably read by now, Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple, died on Wednesday at the age of 56. The cause, according to media reports: his long bout with pancreatic cancer. Over the next few days, you can expect to read a lot of profiles and obituaries, all filled with various synonyms for "visionary". And with good reason: That hyperbolic word may be tossed around a lot these days, but it undoubtedly applies here to a man who, seemingly single-handedly, transformed the worlds of technology, design, business, and music. Let's just say that, if there is a heaven, the talented Mr. Jobs is probably hanging out with Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla at the great world's fair in the sky. 

But Jobs was more than a visionary (see: there's that word again)—he was also an incredibly interesting man, filled with quirks and tidbits that multiplied the media and public's fascination with him. If you don't miss him already, you will after reading these five facts about Steve.

1. Steve may have once dated songstress Joan Baez. Well, that's if Alan Deutschman's unauthorized biography, "The Second Coming of Steve Jobs" is to be believed.

2. Steve was more than just the business head of Apple. He was a freakin' inventor. His name is listed on more than 300 patents and patent applications. How many other CEOs can say that?

3. Steve once sold an apartment to Bono. The location: New York's ritzy Upper West. After spending oodles of money to renovate the two-story unit, Jobs sold it to the singer in 2003—without ever moving in. (He was probably too busy out in California inventing the iPod).

4. Steve owned Pixar. At least, he owned 50.1 percent of the company, and served as the CEO, until Disney took over in 2006. If you ever wondered why Pixar movies seem so... perfect. This is why. And, next time you watch a Pixar flick, keep an eye out for Apple references and Apple-esque designs. There-are-a-plenty.

5. Steve had a psychedelic streak. According to John Markoff's book, "What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry," Jobs "believed that taking LSD was one of the two or three most important things he had done in his life, and he said that he felt because people he knew well had not tried psychedelics, there were things about him they couldn't understand."

So long, Steve. You're gone, but your ideas will be with us forever.