Yes, both launched in 2008 and yet Github was launched first.
According to this archived article[1], there is a quote saying: "It [BB] sports a feature-set much like Github." That is an indication of which one came first and was already a success story on the market and served as a blueprint for BB, which was made in its image with the difference of supporting mercurial, instead of git.
Because BitBucket is a GitHub clone itself (I'm not entirely sure if it started out as such, it very quickly turned in to one).
Maybe because Github was there first. BB was created as the GH clone, for mercurial repos.
Both launched in 2008.
Yes, both launched in 2008 and yet Github was launched first.
According to this archived article[1], there is a quote saying: "It [BB] sports a feature-set much like Github." That is an indication of which one came first and was already a success story on the market and served as a blueprint for BB, which was made in its image with the difference of supporting mercurial, instead of git.
[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20110317200833/http://code.djang...
(edit) forgot the link to the article