February 11, 1911:

Ronald Wilson Reagan is born in Tampico, Illinois

October 29, 1929:

The New York Stock Exchange crashes, triggering the Great Depression

November 1932:

Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt elected president and launches New Deal policies

April 1933:

Reagan begins work with WHO radio in Davenport, Iowa

March 1937:

Reagan arrives in Hollywood and signs a contract with Warner Brothers

January 26, 1940:

Reagan marries his first wife, the actress Jane Wyman

December 7, 1941:

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, United States enters WWII

April 1947:

Reagan works for the FBI as an anticommunist informant

1947:

Reagan becomes president of the Screen Actors Guild for the first time

August 1948:

The States’ Rights Democratic Party, or “Dixiecrats”, break from national Democratic Party and nominate Strom Thurmond for president

March 4, 1952:

Reagan, recently divorced, marries his second wife, the actress Nancy Davis

1954:

Reagan begins work as spokesman for the General Electric Company

November 19, 1955:

William F. Buckley Jr. publishes the first issue of National Review

1962:

WilliamGeneral Electric Theatre cancelled, Reagan leaves General Electric

1964:

Reagan appears in his last role as a professional actor, with Lee Marvin and Angie Dickenson in NBC’s “The Killers”

October 1964:

Reagan enters party politics with “A Time for Choosing” speech in support of Barry Goldwater

August 1965:

Watts Riots erupt in Los Angeles, Reagan and conservative leaders call for “law and order”

November 8, 1966:

Reagan becomes Governor of California in a landslide victory over the incumbent Democrat Pat Brown

April 4, 1968:

Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis, setting off widespread rioting across the country

August 1968:

Reagan is defeated by Richard Nixon in the Republican presidential primaries

November 3, 1969:

Nixon delivers the “Silent Majority” speech

May 1970:

Hardhat rallies take place in New York City as blue collar union members assault antiwar protestors

November 3, 1970:

Reagan reelected as Governor of California

October 1973:

Arab members of OPEC launch oil embargo, leading to worldwide recession and “stagflation” in the United States

January 6, 1975:

Reagan’s second term as Governor of California ends, he does not seek reelection

April 23, 1975:

President Ford announces end to Vietnam War, one week later Saigon falls to the communist North Vietnamese as the American embassy is evacuated

August 1976:

Reagan is defeated by Gerald Ford in the Republican presidential primaries

November 4, 1979:

52 Americans taken hostage in Tehran, Iranian hostage crisis begins

December 1979:

Soviet forces invade Afghanistan

November 4, 1980:

Ronald Reagan elected President of the United States

January 20, 1981:

Reagan takes office; American hostages in Iran are released

March 30, 1981:

Reagan shot by gunman John Hinckley Jr., barely surviving assassination attempt

August 5, 1981:

PATCO strike ends as Reagan fires more than 11,000 air traffic controllers

August 13, 1981:

Reagan signs the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, lowering tax rates for individuals and corporations

March 23, 1983:

Reagan proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative, dubbed “Star Wars” program by the press

November 6, 1984:

Reagan reelected in landslide victory over Democrat Walter Mondale

October 5, 1986:

CIA plane shot down in Nicaragua, triggering the discovery of the Iran-contra affair

December 8, 1987:

Reagan signs Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the Soviet Union

January 2, 1988:

Reagan signs the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement

January 20, 1989:

Reagan leaves office amid high approval ratings; George H.W. Bush succeeds Reagan as president

November 10, 1989:

The Berlin Wall falls

December 25, 1991:

National independence declared for Soviet satellite states, effectively ending the Cold War in Eastern Europe and marking the fall of the Soviet Union

January 1, 1994:

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) takes effect

November 5, 1994:

Reagan writes letter disclosing he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease

November 8, 1994:

“Republican Revolution” in U.S. Congress, the party achieves a majority in the House of Representatives for the first time since 1952

June 5, 2004:

Reagan dies at his home in Bel Air, California, at the age of 93