The HN title has gone through quite a few iterations by now.

- Microsoft beat Apple to buy PowerPoint for $14M

- How Microsoft beat Apple to buy PowerPoint for $14M

- Microsoft beat Apple to buy PowerPoint for $14M (1987)

- Microsoft beat Apple to buy PowerPoint for $14M (2016)

I would prefer "How Microsoft beat Apple to buy PowerPoint for $14M (2016)" to make it clear that this is both a story about a past event, and this story was told some years ago.

It’s weird how Apple is part of the title when they’re barely mentioned.

Usually, a year in parentheses on a HN post indicates the publiction date of the article--specifically when the article isn't current--not the dates of the events recounted. In this case the article is from 2016 as the date suggests.

yup, I actually know about that, but it still made me do a double-take