Bitcoin was invented in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto, and began to be used in 2009. Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority. The network collectively manages transactions and issues Bitcoins through the process known as mining. New Bitcoins are created as a reward for mining, while in total only 21,000,000 of Bitcoins can ever be created.
Bitcoin is an open-source, and is designed for public, so that nobody could own or control the entire Bitcoin network and everyone can take part in it. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment system.
The original Bitcoin whitepaper is located here