Short answers, pulled from the story.
Microsoft officially launched the Xbox at midnight on the 15th of November 2001. The launch event took place at a flagship Toys R Us store in Times Square where Bill Gates personally sold the first unit.
The Xbox used a 32-bit 733 MHz Intel Pentium III Coppermine-based processor paired with an Nvidia GeForce 3-based GPU. It also included a bulky tray-loading DVD-ROM drive and a standard-size 3.5-inch hard drive inside the chassis.
By the time production ended in 2005, the console had sold a total of 24 million units worldwide. Sixteen million of those units came from North America while sales in Japan remained significantly lower.
Microsoft lost approximately $125 for every system sold because manufacturing costs reached $425 while retail prices sat at $299. The company accumulated an overall loss of four billion dollars during the console's market life to build a user base.
Microsoft launched its Xbox Live service on the 15th of November 2002. Users needed to purchase a starter kit containing a headset and subscription fee to access the broadband-only feature.