1917
29 May: John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts
1931
September: Enrols at Choate School, an Episcopalian institution in Connecticut
1935
June: Graduates from Choate, 65th out of a class of 110
July: Travels to London with the intention of studying for a year at LSE, but health problems force him to abandon his plans
October: Enrols at Princeton University, but soon drops out
1936
September: Begins his undergraduate career at Harvard University
1938
Winter: Takes a break from Harvard and embarks on an extended European tour
1939
September: Outbreak of World War Two; Kennedy leaves Europe and returns to America
1940
June: Graduates from Harvard University with a degree in International Affairs
July: Kennedy’s Harvard thesis is published as a book called Why England Slept
1941
October: Kennedy joins the US Navy
7 December: Japanese bomb Pearl Harbour and America enters World War Two
1943
March: Kennedy assumes command of PT-109 and deploys to the Solomon Islands
2 August: PT-109 is sunk by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy and surviving crew are stranded behind enemy lines; they are rescued six days later
1944
11 June: Kennedy receives the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for bravery
12 August: Kennedy’s older brother, Joe Jr, is killed in action
1945
1 March: Discharged from the navy on medical grounds
1946
25 April: Formally announces his intention to run for Congress
18 June: Wins the Democratic Congressional nomination for the 11th District of Massachusetts
5 November: Elected to the US House of Representatives
1947
September: Diagnosed as having Addison’s Disease
1948
2 November: Re-elected to the House of Representatives, unopposed
1950
7 November: Re-elected to the House of Representatives, winning over 82 per cent of the vote
1952
24 April: Announces his intention to run for the US Senate
10 May: Encounters Jacqueline Lee Bouvier at a dinner party
4 November: Elected as Senator for Massachusetts
1953
24 June: Jack and Jackie’s engagement is officially announced
12 September: The couple marry in Newport, Rhode Island
1954
21 October: Kennedy undergoes surgery in an attempt to alleviate chronic back pain
2 December: Kennedy abstains from Senate vote to censure Senator Joe McCarthy
1955
February: Undergoes the second back surgery. While recuperating, he writes his second book, Profiles in Courage
1956
17 August: Narrowly loses the Democratic vice-presidential nomination at the party’s Chicago convention
23 August: Jackie gives birth to a stillborn daughter. Kennedy is reluctant to cut short his vacation to be by his wife’s side
1957
6 May: Profiles in Courage wins the Pulitzer Prize for Biography
27 November: Kennedy’s first surviving child, Caroline, is born
1958
4 November: Kennedy is re-elected to the Senate
1960
2 January: Kennedy officially declares his candidature for the Presidency of the United States
15 July: Kennedy wins the Democratic primary
8 November: Americans go to the polls in vast numbers
9 November: Nixon concedes JFK is declared the country’s 35th President
25 November: John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr, the couple’s second surviving child, is born
1961
20 January: Kennedy is sworn in to office, giving an inspiring inaugural address
1 March: Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps
17–19 April: The Bay of Pigs mission is launched and ends in defeat
3–4 June: Kennedy meets Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna
13 August: Construction begins on the Berlin Wall
1962
14–28 October: Cuban Missile Crisis
1963
11 June: President Kennedy orders the Governor of Alabama to allow the registration of black students at the University of Alabama. Announces his intention to introduce Civil Rights legislation to Congress
5 August: America and the Soviet Union agree terms for a Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
7 August: Jackie gives birth to the couple’s second son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy
9 August: Patrick Kennedy dies as a result of respiratory problems
21 November: President and Mrs Kennedy travel to Texas
22 November: President Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dealey Plaza, Dallas at 12.30pm. His death is confirmed by doctors at 1pm. Lyndon B Johnson is sworn in as President of the United States at 2.38pm
24 November: Oswald is shot by Jack Ruby while in police custody
25 November: Following a service at St Matthew’s Cathedral, Kennedy is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia
29 November: President Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate Kennedy’s assassination
1964
29 September: The Warren Commission publishes its report; it finds no evidence of conspiracy