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February 12, 1809:  Abraham Lincoln born in Hardin County, Kentucky, near Hodgenville

December 1816:  Family relocates to frontier of Indiana

October 5, 1818:  Mother Nancy Hanks Lincoln dies of milk sickness

December 5, 1819:  Father Thomas Lincoln remarries widow Sarah Bush Johnston

January 1820:  Missouri Compromise sets boundary line between free and slave territory

January 20, 1828:  Lincoln's elder sister Sarah Lincoln dies during childbirth

April 1828:  Lincoln works on cargo flatboat bound for New Orleans

March 1830:  Family relocates to Illinois, settling along Sangamon River

March 1831:  Lincoln makes second flatboat trip to New Orleans

July 1831:  Separates from his family, moving to New Salem, Illinois

April-June 1832:  Serves as captain of volunteer company in Black Hawk War

August 6, 1832:  Loses bid for Illinois State Legislature

May 1833:  Becomes postmaster of New Salem

October 1833:  Takes up work as surveyor

August 4, 1834:  Elected to Illinois State Legislature at age 24

January 1835:  Lincoln's village store fails when his partner dies

August 25, 1835:  Ann Rutledge dies

August 1, 1836:  Lincoln re-elected to Illinois state legislature

March 1, 1837:  Admitted to the bar in Illinois; begins practicing law

March 15, 1837:  Relocates to Springfield after state capital is moved there

April 12, 1837:  Forms law partnership with John T. Stuart

August 6, 1838:  Re-elected to Illinois State Legislature for a third term

August 3, 1840:  Re-elected to Illinois State Legislature for a fourth term

Autumn 1840:  Becomes engaged to Mary Todd

January 1, 1841:  Breaks off engagement with Mary Todd

May 14, 1841:  Forms law partnership with Stephen T. Logan

Spring 1842:  Decides not to seek fifth term in Illinois state legislature

September 1842:  Challenged to duel by James Shields; later called off

November 4, 1842:  Married to Mary Todd in an Episcopalian Service in Springfield

May 1, 1843:  Lincoln fails to obtain Whig nomination for U.S. Congress

August 1, 1843:  Eldest son Robert Todd born

January 7, 1844:  Lincoln buys frame house in Springfield

September 20, 1844:  Forms law partnership with William Herndon

March 10, 1846:  Second son Edward Baker born

August 3, 1846:  Elected to U.S. Congress as Whig Representative from Illinois

October 25, 1847:  Lincoln family leaves Springfield for Washington

December 6, 1847:  Lincoln present at convocation of Thirtieth Congress

January 22, 1848:  On House floor, makes criticisms of President Polk and Mexican War

January 10, 1849:  Introduces gradual emancipation bill for slaves in District of Columbia

March 31, 1849:  Completes term in Washington and returns to Springfield to practice law

June 21, 1849:  Fails to secure position as commissioner of General Land Office

Summer 1849:  Refuses offer to become governor of Oregon Territory

February 1, 1850:  Son Edward Lincoln dies after prolonged illness

Autumn 1850:  Omnibus Compromise of 1850 signed into law

December 21, 1850:  Third son William Wallace born

January 17, 1851:  Father Thomas Lincoln dies.

July 16, 1852:  Delivers eulogy of Henry Clay in Springfield

April 4, 1853:  Fourth son Thomas "Tad" born

May 24, 1854:  Kansas-Nebraska Act becomes law, nullifying Missouri Compromise

October 15, 1854:  Lincoln makes speech in Peoria in opposition to popular sovereignty

November 7, 1854:  Elected to Illinois state legislature, declines seat to run for U.S. Senate

February 8, 1855:  Lincoln loses Senate bid

June 17, 1856:  Lincoln attends first Republican national convention in Philadelphia; receives considerable support for vice-presidential nomination

March 6, 1857:  Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger P. Taney reads Dred Scott decision

June 26, 1857:  Speaks out against Dred Scott decision in Springfield

June 16, 1858:  Receives Republican nomination for U.S. Senate; delivers famous "house divided" speech

Autumn 1858:  Participates in a series of debates with incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas

November 2, 1858:  Loses Senate bid once again

October 16, 1859:  John Brown leads raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia

February 27, 1860:  Lincoln delivers speech at Cooper Institute, New York City

April 23, 1860:  Democratic convention in Charleston, South Carolina fractures

May 18, 1860:  Receives nomination for president at Republican convention in Chicago

June 1860:  Northern Democrats nominate Stephen Douglas for president; Southern Democrats nominate John Breckenridge for President; Constitutional Union Party nominates John Bell for President

November 6, 1860:  Lincoln elected 16th President of the United States

December 20, 1860:  South Carolina becomes first state to secede from the Union

February 9, 1861:  Confederate States of America formed in Montgomery, Alabama

February 11, 1861:  Lincoln makes farewell address at Springfield, embarks for Washington

March 4, 1861:  Lincoln inaugurated in Washington, delivers First Inaugural Address

March 29, 1861:  Orders reinforcements sent to Fort Sumter

April 12, 1861:  Confederate forces open fire on Fort Sumter, beginning Civil War

April 15, 1861:  Lincoln calls for a temporary militia of 75,000 soldiers

April 17, 1861:  Virginia secedes from the Union

April 18, 1861:  Lincoln invites Robert E. Lee to head Union armies; Lee declines and resigns post

April 19, 1861:  Lincoln proclaims blockade against Southern ports

April 27, 1861:  Suspends writ of habeas corpus

May 10, 1861:  Declares martial law in Maryland

June 3, 1861:  Stephen Douglas dies in Chicago

July 21, 1861:  Union forces routed at First Manassas (Bull Run)

July 22, 1861:  Congress grants Lincoln considerable war powers

August 1861:  Declares martial law in Missouri

November 1, 1861:  George McClellan promoted to general-in-chief of Union forces

November 8, 1861:   Trent Affair strains relations with Britain

December 26, 1861:  Releases Confederate ministers detained during Trent Affair

February 20, 1862:  Son William Wallace Lincoln dies

March 9, 1862:  Ironclad warships Monitor and Virginia battle to a draw

March 11, 1862:  Lincoln takes supreme command of Union forces; McClellan begins Peninsular Campaign on Richmond

April 6-7, 1862:  Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee results in heavy losses for both sides

April 16, 1862:  Lincoln signs act abolishing slavery in District of Columbia

April 24, 1862:  David Farragut leads Union navy's seizure of New Orleans

May 20, 1862:  Homestead Act signed into law

June 19, 1862:  Slavery prohibited in United States territories

June 25-July 1 1862:  Seven Days' Battles in Virginia end in defeat and retreat for Union

July 1, 1862:  Pacific Railroad Act signed into law; Lincoln calls for 300,000 volunteers

July 2, 1862:  Morrill Land Grant Act signed into law

July 11, 1862:  Lincoln appoints Henry Halleck as general-in-chief of Union forces

August 19, 1862:  Reply to Horace Greeley editorial regarding war aims

August 29-30, 1862:  Union forces routed at Second Manassas (Bull Run)

September 17, 1862:  Union forces turn back the Confederate attack at the Battle of Antietam

September 22, 1862:  Lincoln issues a preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation

October 3, 1862:  Lincoln visits Union forces at Antietam

November 5, 1862:  Lincoln promotes Ambrose Burnside to direct Union forces in the east

December 13, 1862:  Union forces routed at Battle of Fredericksburg

January 1, 1863:  Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect

January 2, 1863:  Fighting at the Battle of Mumfreesboro ends inconclusively

January 25, 1863:  Lincoln names Joseph Hooker to command Union forces in the east

January 29, 1863:  Lincoln names U.S. Grant to command Union forces in the west

February 25, 1863:  Lincoln signs National Bank Act into law

March 3, 1863:  Lincoln signs Conscription Act into law amidst heavy protests

May 1-4, 1863:  Union forces routed at Chancellorsville

May 19, 1863:  Copperhead Clement L. Vallandigham arrested and banished from Union

June 20, 1863: West Virginia admitted to Union as 35th state

June 28, 1863:  Lincoln names George Meade to command Union forces in the east

July 1-3, 1863:  Union forces victorious at Battle of Gettysburg

July 4, 1863:  Union forces seize Vicksburg, gain control of Mississippi River

July 12-15, 1863:  Draft riots occur in New York City

September 19-20, 1863:  Union forces routed at Chickamauga

November 19, 1863:  Lincoln delivers Gettysburg Address at dedication of national cemetery

November 25, 1863:  Union forces seize Chattanooga

December 8, 1863:  Lincoln issues initial plans for reconstruction

March 9, 1864:  Grant assumes command of all Union forces; William Tecumseh Sherman takes control in western theater

June 8, 1864:  Lincoln nominated for President by National Union Party

June 15, 1864:  Grant digs in for nine-month siege of Petersburg

July 18, 1864:  Lincoln calls for 500,000 more volunteers

August 29, 1864:  Democrats nominate McClellan for president on peace platform

September 2, 1864:  Sherman's forces break Confederate defenses and march on Atlanta

October 19, 1864:  Union forces gain control of Shenandoah Valley, Virginia

November 8, 1864:  Lincoln re-elected president

November 15, 1864:  Sherman burns Atlanta, begins march to the sea

February 3, 1865:  Lincoln attends unsuccessful peace conference in Hampton Roads, Virginia

March 4, 1865:  Lincoln delivers Second Inaugural Address

March 11, 1865:  Issues presidential pardon for Union deserters

April 2, 1865:  Grant's forces break Confederate defensive and march on Richmond

April 4, 1865:  Lincoln visits destruction at Richmond

April 9, 1865:  Lee surrenders to Grant near Appomattox Court House, Virginia

April 11, 1865:  Lincoln makes last public speech, concerning question of reconstruction

April 14, 1865:  Lincoln fatally shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending play at Ford's Theater, Washington, D.C.

April 15, 1865:  Lincoln dies at 7:22 a.m. from complications caused by gunshot wound

May 4, 1865:  Lincoln interred at Oak Ridge Cemetery, near Springfield, Illinois

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