For some reason I remember Postgresql 8.3 as being the pivotal release that let us adopt it, and that came out in 2008 according to the internet. So yeah we are talking ancient history now.
Looking back at the release notes I can't believe how many of those features are critical to how I use PG today. Really some visionary work there.
https://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.3/release-8-3.html
> With significant new functionality and performance enhancements, this release represents a major leap forward for PostgreSQL. This was made possible by a growing community that has dramatically accelerated the pace of development. This release adds the following major features...
