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MAY 29, 1917: Born in Brookline, Mass., the son of Joe and Rose Kennedy (Fitzgerald)
JUNE 1940: Graduates cum laude with a bachelor of science degree from Harvard University.
SEPTEMBER 1941: At age 24, he is sworn in as an ensign in the U.S. Navy.
MARCH 1943: Given command of PT-109 as a lieutenant.
AUG. 3, 1943: While on active duty his PT-109 is sunk by the Japanese. Kennedy performed heroically.
JUNE 11, 1944: Awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and Purple Heart for his actions while in command of PT-109.
AUG. 12, 1944: Kennedy's older brother, Joe Kennedy Jr., is killed when his Air Force plane explodes shortly after take-off.
MARCH 1, 1945: Honorably discharged from the Navy with the full rank of lieutenant.
NOV. 5, 1946: Elected as a U.S. representative for the 11th Congressional District in Boston at age 29.
NOV. 4, 1952: Elected as senator from Massachusetts and re-elected in 1958.
SEPT. 12, 1953: Marries Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in Newport, daughter of John Vernon Bouvier III and Janet Lee Bouvier.
OCT. 21, 1954: Undergoes first of 2 surgeries for a back injury he received during the PT-109 incident.
FEBRUARY 1955: Writes Profiles in Courage, which won a Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957.
AUG. 17, 1956: Loses his bid for the Democratic nomination for vice president.
NOV. 27, 1957: Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is born at Cornell Medical Center, New York.
JAN. 2, 1960: Announces his candidacy for president of the United States.
JULY 13, 1960: Receives the Democratic nomination for president.
NOV. 8,1960: Defeats Richard M. Nixon to become the 35th president of the United States.
NOV. 25, 1960: John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. is born at Georgetown University Hospital.
JAN. 20, 1961: At age 43, takes the oath of office to become the 35th president of the United States, the youngest and first Catholic elected president.
APRIL 17, 1961: The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Kennedy supports the invasion to oust Fidel Castro, but the invasion fails. Kennedy is heavily criticized.
JUNE 3/4, 1961: Meets with Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna. After the meeting, the Soviets build a wall between East and West Berlin.
SEPT. 12, 1962: Delivers a speech at Rice University, pledging that the United States will put a man on the moon "before the end of this decade."
OCT. 16-28, 1962: U.S. intelligence discovers that the Russians are building missile sites in Cuba, Kennedy orders naval and air quarantine. Russia backs down.
JUNE 11, 1963: Sends the Alabama National Guard to the University of Alabama to protect two African-American students to attend the college.
AUG. 7, 1963: The Kennedys' second son, Patrick, is born five weeks premature and dies Aug. 9.
OCT. 7, 1963: Signs the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in Washington, D.C. "essential desire for peace."
NOV. 21, 1963: Kennedy begins his tour of Texas. His destinations are San Antonio, Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas and Austin.
NOV. 22, 1963 (FRIDAY): John F Kennedy is shot at 12:30 p.m. in a motorcade through downtown Dallas. He is pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital.
NOV 22, 1963: Eighty minutes after the assasination, Lee Harvey Oswald is arrested. Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as President on Air Force 1.
NOV. 24, 1963 (SUNDAY): Dallas Strip Club Operator Jack Ruby fatally shoots Lee Harvey Oswald at the Dallas Police Department.
NOV. 25, 1963 (MONDAY): John Fitzgerald Kennedy is buried in Arlington National Cemetery with his son Patrick and his daughter Arabella.
NOV. 29, 1963: President Lyndon B. Johnson appoints the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination.
SEPT. 29, 1964: The Warren Commission publishes a report with its findings that the lone gunman was Oswald. They find no evidence "of conspiracy to assassinate...."
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