Intel developed and released the first single chip microprocessor, the 4-bit MCS 4004.

You had CPUs before that, but they were not single chips.

> like the Intel 8086.

You mean the 8051? It is a nice embedded chip, mostly because it has a lot of bit-level instructions and has separate execution and data address spaces if I'm remembering the details right.

> Of course the x86 instruction set comes from that very chip

It does come from the 8086, which I do believe was at least somewhat based on the even earlier 8080. I could be wrong though.

But yeah Intel did a lot. In the 70's though you had lots of semiconductor companies: Fairchild, Signetics, Motorola, MOS/CSG branching off of them. I really wonder what Intel would be if IBM selected a 68000 for the 5150 though.