February 6, 1911

Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois.  His parents were John Edward “Jack” Reagan and Nelle Clyde Wilson Reagan.  An older brother, [John] Neil Reagan had been born in  July1908.

January 1915

The Reagan family moved to south-side Chicago where Jack Reagan had found a job in retail with Fair Store.  The family resided in the Hyde Park neighborhood at 832 East 57^th Street.

August 1915

The Reagan family moved to Galesburg, Illinois.  The family would reside at 1219 North Kellogg Street for about three years.

1917

Ronald Reagan attended first grade at Silas Willard School in Galesburg, Illinois.

1918

The Reagan family moved to Monmouth, Illinois.  The family would reside at 218 South Seventh Street.

1918

Ronald Reagan completed second and third grades during the same year at Central School in Monmouth, Illinois.

Fall 1918

The Reagan family returned to Tampico where they resided in an apartment located above the Pitney General Store where Jack Reagan worked.  Ronald Reagan completed his fourth grade and a part of his fifth grade education in Tampico.

December 6, 1920

The Reagan family moved to Dixon, Illinois, and resided at 816 South Hennepin Avenue.

January 1921

Ronald Reagan attends the E. C. Smith School and later the South Side School [later renamed South Central] where he completed his middle school education (grades five through seven)..

September 22, 1922

Rev. David Franklin Seyster baptized Ronald Wilson Reagan at the First Christian Church, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) church in Dixon, Illinois, which Nelle Reagan regularly attended.

1924

Remaining in Dixon, the Reagan family moved into a home on the north side of town at 338 West Everett Street.

1924

Ronald Reagan begins to attend North Side High School in Dixon, Illinois.  He will graduate from high school in June 1928.

Summer 1926

Ronald Reagan began to work a seasonal job as a lifeguard at Lowell Park in Dixon, Illinois, earning $200 per summer.  He would hold this job for seven consecutive summers.  During his time as a lifeguard, Reagan is reported to have saved seventy-seven individuals from drowning in the Rock River.

June 1928

Ronald Reagan graduates from high school.  During his high school years he was actively involved in basketball, drama, football and track.  He was elected president of the student body during his senior year.

August 3, 1928

Headline of The Dixon Daily Telegraph reads “Ronald Reagan Saves Drowning Man.”

September 20, 1928

Ronald Reagan enrolls as a freshman at Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois.  His primary interest in attending Eureka College was that Margaret “Mugs” Cleaver, his high school sweetheart, had decided to attend college there.  Ronald Reagan would become actively involved in football, track, swimming, drama, and student government during his college years.

November 1928

Ronald Reagan spoke publicly and became a leader in a student strike movement on the Eureka College campus.  After successfully staging a five-day strike, the student demands were met and Bert Wilson, the president of the college, was forced to resign.

October 29, 1929

The Stock Market Crash signals the start of the Great Depression.

1931

Ronald Reagan won an award for his dramatic performance in Edna St. Vincent Millay’s play “Aria da Capo.”  The judges of the theatre competition at Northwestern University suggest that Ronald Reagan consider a possible career in drama.

June 7, 1932

Ronald Reagan graduates from Eureka College earning a Batchelor’s Degree in Economics & Sociology.

November 1932

Ronald Reagan voted for the first time.  He, along with his father, supported the candidacy of New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

December 1932

After he was unable to find work in Chicago, Ronald Reagan takes a job as a temporary staff announcer at radio station WOC in Davenport, Iowa.

April 1933

Ronald Reagan moved to Des Moines, Iowa, when radio stations WOC and WHO merged.  At the new and larger radio station, Reagan became the chief sports announcer.  He was the “voice” of Big Ten football and Chicago Cubs baseball for many in the Midwest.

February 27, 1935

Ronald Reagan enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve as a private.

March 15, 1937

As a sports announcer, Ronald Reagan attended spring training with the Chicago Cubs on Catalina Island in California.  While he was in California he met with people from Warner Brothers and made a screen test.  Shortly thereafter, Warner Brothers offered him a seven-year studio contract for making films.

April 20, 1937

Ronald Reagan signs a contract with Warner Brothers.

April 27, 1937

Ronald Reagan achieved the rank of 2^nd Lieutenant in the Army Officers Reserve Corps of the Cavalry.

June 7, 1937

Ronald Reagan arrives in Hollywood, California, to begin working on his first film, Love is on the Air.

January 26, 1940

Ronald Reagan marries actress Jane Wyman.  The two had met while filming the movie Brother Rat.

September 1940

Ronald Reagan plays the role of George Gipp in the film “Knute Rockne – All American.”  He earns the nickname “The Gipper” from this role.

January 1941

John Edward “Jack” Reagan, Ronald Reagan’s father, dies.

January 4, 1941

Birth of daughter Maureen Elizabeth Reagan.

July 1941

Ronald Reagan was appointed to the board of the Screen Actor’s Guild.

December 7, 1941

Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese.  This action prompts the U.S. to enter the Second World War.

April 19, 1942

Ronald Reagan is drafted into the army.  Because of his poor eyesight, he is assigned to the 1^st Motion Picture Army Unit in Culver City, California.  His primary wartime role will be making training films for the army and propaganda films.

1942

Ronald Reagan plays the role of Drake McHugh in the movie “King’s Row.”  Many would credit this as being the high point of his career in film.  His film line, “Where’s the rest of me?” would later become the title of his autobiography.

March 1945

A son, Michael Edward Reagan, was adopted.

August 21, 1945

Ronald Reagan signs a million dollar contract with Warner Brothers.

March 10, 1947

Ronald Reagan was elected president of the Screen Actor’s Guild.  He would serve five one-year terms in this position.

June 26, 1947

A second daughter was born, but died the following day.

October 25, 1947

As president of the Screen Actors Guild, Ronald Reagan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

June 6, 1948

Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman divorced.

September 23, 1948

Ronald Reagan introduced President Harry Truman at a campaign rally in Los Angeles.

Fall 1950

Ronald Reagan campaigned in behalf of California Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas when she faced Richard Nixon in the race for a U.S. Senate seat.

December 7, 1950

Ronald Reagan made his network television debut appearing in Nash Airflyte Theatre.

1951

Ronald Reagan appears in the Universal Pictures film Bedtime for Bonzo.

March 4, 1952

Ronald Reagan married actress Nancy Davis.

June 1952

Ronald Reagan delivered the commencement address “America the Beautiful” at William Woods College.

October 22, 1952

Daughter Patricia Ann (Patti) was born.

Fall 1952

Ronald Reagan began to organize a movement of Democrats for Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential campaign.  He would do the same thing in 1956 when Eisenhower sought a second term.

May 2, 1953

Ronald Reagan was named the honorary mayor of Malibu Lake, California.

September 26, 1954

Ronald Reagan made his first appearance on GE Theatre.  He eventually became the host of the television series and the spokesman for General Electric.  In this capacity he traveled the country and gave many speeches.

1956

Unable to land major roles in films, and facing the financial burdens of a growing family, Ronald Reagan finds work as an emcee in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1957

Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis Reagan both appear in the movie Hellcats of the Navy, the only film in which they ever appeared together.

June 7, 1957

Ronald Reagan speaks at commencement exercises at Eureka College on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his graduation from the College.  He receives an honorary degree from the College on this occasion.

May 28, 1958

Son Ronald Prescott (Ron Jr.) was born.

1959

While serving in his last term as the president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Ronald Reagan successfully negotiates for increased benefits and better working conditions for actors.

Fall 1960

Ronald Reagan delivered more than 200 speeches in behalf of Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign.

March 1962

General Electric decides to discontinue GE Theatre because of low ratings.

1962

After noting a decade-long change in his political ideology, Ronald Reagan officially changed his political affiliation from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.

1962

Nelle Clyde Wilson Reagan, Ronald Reagan’s mother, died.

1964

Ronald Reagan appears in the film The Killers.  It will be his final movie.

1964

Ronald Reagan became the host of Death Valley Days.  He appeared on twenty-one episodes broadcast from 1965-1966.

October 27, 1964

Ronald Reagan delivers the speech “A Time for Choosing” in behalf of the presidential campaign of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater.

1965

Ronald Reagan published his autobiography, Where’s the Rest of Me?

January 4, 1966

Ronald Reagan announces that he will be a Republican candidate in the campaign for governor of California.

November 8, 1966

Ronald Reagan defeats incumbent governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown by a margin of one million votes.

May 2, 1968

A “Draft Reagan” movement begins within the Republican Party as supporters try to encourage the California Governor to seek the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 1968.

August 5, 1968

At the Republican Party’s Nominating Convention in Miami, Florida, Ronald Reagan announces that he is a candidate for the party’s nomination. 

May 15, 1969

In response to student unrest, Governor Reagan sent the California National Guard onto the University of California Campus in Berkeley.

November 1970

Ronald Reagan is elected to a second term as governor of California.  He defeats Jesse Unruh, the Speaker of the State Assembly.

1971

Governor Reagan signs the California Welfare Reform Act which was designed to reduce the numbers of welfare recipients.

Fall 1974

Reagan friends Michael Deaver and Peter Hannaford establish a consulting and public relations firm that will promote Ronald Reagan.  Opportunities to deliver speeches, write newspaper columns, and deliver radio commentaries begin to take shape.

Fall 1974

Governor Reagan declines offers to accept a position in the Ford Administration.  He had been offered the posts of Ambassador to the Court of St. James, Secretary of Transportation, and Secretary of Commerce.

November 20, 1975

Ronald Reagan begins his campaign for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.  He challenges incumbent president Gerald Ford for the party nomination.

March 1976

The National Republican Conference of Mayors asks that Reagan consider withdrawing from the presidential primaries in order to increase the likelihood that President Ford can win the 1976 contest.

August 19, 1976

After failing to win the presidential nomination, Ronald Reagan addresses the Republican Party National Convention in Kansas City.

November 1976

In a very close election, Democrat Jimmy Carter defeats incumbent president Gerald Ford.

November 13, 1979

Ronald Reagan announces his candidacy for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.  He is one in a crowded field of ten candidates who are seeking the nomination.

February 26, 1980

Ronald Reagan wins the New Hampshire primary.

July 17, 1980

Ronald Reagan accepts the Republican Party nomination for President at the nominating convention in Detroit.

October 28, 1980

President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan take part in a nationally televised debate broadcast from Cleveland, Ohio.  The following day polls indicate that viewers judged Reagan to win the debate.

November 4, 1980

Ronald Reagan is elected President of the U.S. when he defeats incumbent president Jimmy Carter.

January 20, 1981

Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the fortieth president of the United States.

January 20, 1981

The Iranian hostage crisis ends as Iran releases the 52 Americans that it had held for 444 days after Iranian students took control of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

February 20, 1981

In his first State of the Union Message, President Reagan calls for cuts of $41 billion from the budget that President Carter had proposed.  He further calls for a reduction in income tax rates over the next three years and requests an additional five billion dollars in defense spending.

March 30, 1981

Ronald Reagan is shot by John Hinckley, Jr., in an assassination attempt outside the Washington Hilton.

April 12, 1981

NASA successfully launches the first mission of the space shuttle Columbia.  The reusable craft returned to earth on April 14 after a three day mission.

April 21, 1981

The U.S. announces a significant sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.  The Saudis will purchase one billion dollars worth of U.S. military equipment including five AWACS electronic surveillance aircraft.  The Israeli government protests the agreement.

April 24, 1981

The U.S. lifts the fifteen-month embargo on grain sales to the Soviet Union that had been put in place after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

July 29, 1981

Congress passes President Reagan’s tax plan.

September 1981

President Reagan appoints Sandra Day O'Connor as the first female justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

March 10, 1982

The U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Libya because of that country’s alleged involvement in support of international terrorist organizations.

May 9, 1982

President Reagan delivers a major foreign policy address at Eureka College.  The President proposed the START Initiative which outlined a new approach to nuclear arms control that he believed the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. should follow.

June 30, 1982

The Equal Rights Amendment dies when it fails to win ratification by three-fourths of the states.

August 20, 1982

About 800 U.S. Marines arrive in Beirut, Lebanon. They are there to oversee the withdrawal of PLO fighters from the city.

November 22, 1982

President Reagan calls upon Congress to support construction of the MX missile system at an estimated cost of $26 billion.

April 18, 1983

A car bomb explosion destroys the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.  Sixty-three people are killed, including seventeen Americans.

October 23, 1983

241 American military personnel are killed when a truck bomb explodes at the U.S. Marine Headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon.

October 25, 1983

U.S. forces launch an invasion of the Caribbean island nation of Grenada.  They restore order and remove a pro-Cuban Marxist government that had come to power in a bloody coup.

November 11, 1983

The first U.S. cruise missiles begin to arrive in Europe.  572 of these will eventually be deployed in NATO countries.

November 23, 1983

The Soviet Union withdrew from arms limitation talks in response to the deployment of U.S. cruise missiles in Europe.

December 1983

Time magazine selects U. S President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Leader Yuri Andropov as its “Men of the Year.”

January 29, 1984

Ronald Reagan officially declared his candidacy for reelection as President of the United States.

June 6, 1984

President Reagan takes part in ceremonies at Normandy recognizing the fortieth anniversary of the D-Day Invasion.

November 4, 1984

Ronald Reagan wins reelection by defeating Walter Mondale.

January 20, 1985

Ronald Reagan is sworn in to office for a second term as president.

July 13, 1985

President Reagan undergoes surgery on his large intestine to remove cancerous tissue.

November 1985

President Reagan meets with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at a summit meeting in Geneva.

September 9, 1985

The U.S. imposes sanctions on South Africa to protest that nation’s policy of apartheid.

December 11, 1985

Congress passes the Gramm-Rudman bill which is designed to eliminate the federal deficit by 1991.

January 15, 1986

President Reagan signs legislation making Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a national holiday.

January 17, 1986

President Reagan underwent surgery to remove polyps from his colon.

January 28, 1986

The space shuttle Challenger exploded seventy-four seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, killing the seven astronauts aboard.  Included among those killed was Christa McAuliffe, a New Hampshire schoolteacher, who had been selected to be the first teacher in space.

March 20, 1986

The House of Representatives defeated a controversial measure that would have provided $100 million in aid to the contra rebels who were fighting in Nicaragua.

April 14, 1986

The U.S. conducted an air strike against Libya for its involvement in supporting international terrorist activities.

November 3, 1986

A Lebanese magazine revealed the first details of what would eventually become known as the Iran-Contra Affair.

February 26, 1987

The Tower Commission released its report on the Iran-Contra Affair.  The report was critical of President Reagan’s failure to understand or control the covert attempt to funnel profits from Middle Eastern arms sales to aid the contra rebels in Nicaragua.

June 2, 1987

President Reagan appointed economist Alan Greenspan as the new chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

June 12, 1987

Speaking in Berlin, President Reagan said “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

October 11, 1987

Reagan and Gorbachev meet for a summit conference in Reykjavik, Iceland, but the meeting turns out to be a failure.

October 19, 1987

The worst stock crash in the history of the New York Stock Exchange took place as the Dow Jones average fell by 508 points to close at 1738.74 – a loss of 22.6% of its valuation.  This was twice as large as the 1929 stock crash that triggered the Great Depression.

October 23, 1987

The Senate rejected the nomination of Robert H. Bork to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

1987

President Reagan underwent prostate surgery.

December 8, 1987

Gorbachev arrives in the United States to attend the Washington Summit.  Reagan and Gorbachev sign the ICBM Treaty.

April 14, 1988

The Soviet Union began to remove its forces from Afghanistan.

May 29, 1988

President Reagan travels to Moscow to attend a summit meeting with Gorbachev.

January 20, 1989

Ronald Reagan leaves office as former Reagan Vice President, George Bush, is inaugurated as the nation’s forty-first president.

November 9, 1989

The Berlin Wall is opened.  This signals the end of the Cold War.

January 8, 1990

Ronald Reagan was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Award by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

July 31, 1991

Leaders of the U.S. and Russia sign the START I Treaty

November 4, 1991

The Reagan Library and Museum is dedicated in Simi Valley, California.

May 9, 1992

President Reagan delivered the commencement address to the graduates of Eureka College.  It was the sixtieth anniversary of his graduation from the College.

January 3, 1993

Leaders of the U.S. and Russia sign the START II Treaty.

January 13, 1993

President George Bush awards Ronald Reagan the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

November 5, 1994

Former president Reagan writes a letter to the American people in which he discloses that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.

December 11, 1996

Death of [John] Neil “Moon” Reagan, the older brother of Ronald Reagan.

September 30, 1999

Release of Edmund Morris’ controversial biography Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald W. Reagan.

May 9, 2000

The Reagan Peace Garden was dedicated at Eureka College.

August 25, 2000

Ceremonies held in central Illinois to dedicate the Reagan Trail.

January 13, 2001

Ronald Reagan undergoes hip surgery after sustaining an injury in a fall at home.

August 8, 2001

Maureen Elizabeth Reagan, the eldest child of President Ronald Reagan, dies after battling complications of skin cancer.