Billy Graham

7 November, 1918 - Billy Graham was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, to William & Morrow Graham.

1934 - was converted at a Mordecai Ham revival meeting.

1936 - earn money for college as a Fuller Brush salesman. Studied at Bob Jones College, Cleveland, Tennessee.

1937-40 - attended and graduated from Florida Bible Institute near Tampa, Florida

1939 - ordained as a Southern Baptist minister in Florida.

1940 - enrolled at Wheaton College.

1943 - graduated from Wheaton College.

1943 - married Ruth Bell.

1943 -45- pastor at Western Springs Baptist Church, Illinois.

1944 - recruited singer George Beverly Shea.

1944 - became an evangelist with Youth For Christ.

1945-50 - Charter vice president of Youth For Christ International, Chicago.

1947 - accepted W.B. Riley's invitation to lead Northwestern Schools in Minnesota.

1948 - wrote the "Modesto Manifesto", the crusade teams' ethical charter.

1949 - after a crisis of faith at Forest Home Bible Conference, recommitted himself to the trustworthiness of scripture.

1949 - extended the Christ For Greater Los Angeles revival to 8 weeks. Started getting major media attention.

1950 - held New Year's meetings in Boston.

1950 - called his meetings "crusades" for the first time, in South Carolina.

1950 - incorporated the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

1950 - started the Hour of Decision radio broadcasts.

1950 - started Billy Graham Films (which became World Wide Pictures in 1952)

1952 - resigned as president of Northwestern Schools

1952 - started "My Answer" a syndicated newspaper column.

1952 - held a Christmas service for troops on the Korean front lines.

1953 - removed ropes separating blacks from whites at his Chattanooga Crusade.

1954 - held the Great London Crusade.

1954 - preached also in Finland, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands and France.

1956 - launched the Christianity Today magazine.

1957 - held a 16-week Madison Square Garden crusade; welcomed Martin Luther King to his platform.

March 29, 1959 - arrived in New Zealand with Leighton Ford,  Grady Wilson and Joseph Blinco, for 11 days of crusades. The crowds numbers 160,00 in Auckland's Carlaw Park (29 March - 4 April), 60,000 in Athletic Park, Wellington (30 March - 6 April) and 133,000 at Lancaster Park, Christchurch (1-8 April). Billy Graham preached the first two meetings in each city. The meetings were relayed by landline to public gatherings in Dunedin and other centre. Stuff says that Graham drew bigger crowds than the Springbok rugby team and generated an "hysteria" that would not be matched until the visit of the Beatles. 18,000 people made commitments to follow Jesus.

1960 - gave an invocation at a political rally for Richard Nixon.

1965 - President Lyndon Johnson attended the Houston Crusade.

1966 - convened, and gave a keynote address at, the World Congress on Evangelism in Berlin.

1969 - shared Lyndon B. Johnson's last night at the White House

1969 - held the first White House church service for Richard Nixon.

1973 - held integrated evangelistic meetings in South Africa.

1973 - after the Key '73 controversy over plans to convert Jews, Billy Graham said that he did not feel called to target Jews in evangelism.

1974 - convened the International Conference on World Evangelisation in Lausanne, Switzerland.

1977 - received the National interreligious Award from the American Jewish Committee.

1980 - the Billy Graham Centre was dedicated at Wheaton College.

1982 - during a trip to the USSR, said that there was "a measure of religious freedom " there, creating controversy.

1982 - received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion.

1985 - discussed being born again with George W. Bush whole on holiday in Kennebunkport. The future president was converted.

1986 - held the Amsterdam Conference for Itinerant Evangelists.

1989 - prayed at the inauguration of President George H.W. Bush.

1989 - held Mission '89 in London; met with top British leaders.

1989 - received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the first clergyman to receive the honour.

1991 - spent the night before Operation Desert Storm began with George and Barbara Bush.

1991 - held a Buenos Aires Crusade as part of a television and video outreach to 20 countries.

1992 - visited North Korea; lectured at Kim Il-Sung University.

1992 - held a Moscow Crusade; preached in Moscow Baptist Church.

1993 - spent the last night of George H.W. Bush's presidency in the White House; prayed the next day at the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton.

1993 - held a Pro-Christ Crusade in Germany, reaching his largest audience yet through satellite.

1994 - visited Japan, China and North Korea; attended a house church in Beijing.

1994 - preached at the funeral service of President Richard Nixon.

1995 - expanded his evangelistic audience to as many as 1 billion, using technology, during his Puerto Rico Crusade. His "Global Mission" was transmitted via satellite to 185 countries in 116 languages.

1995 - spoke at the memorial service following the Oklahoma City bombing.

1995 - collapsed just before his Toronto Crusade; announces that his son, Franklin Graham, would replace him when he dies or becomes incapacitated.

1996 - received the Congressional Gold Medal along with Ruth Graham.

1998 - addressed a TED conference on technology and spirituality.

1999 - was the first non-musician to be inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame by the Gospel Music Association.

2000 - convened the Amsterdam Conference for 10,000 evangelists, which was sponsored by the Billy Graham Association. Illness prevented him from attending.

2001 - Franklin Graham stood in for his indisposed father at George W, Bush's inauguration.

2001 - preached at the post-911 service at the National Cathedral.

2002 - anti-Jewish comments from tapes of a 1972 conversation with Richard Nixon were made public. Billy Graham apologised and repaired relationships with Jewish leaders.

2002 - Franklin Graham was named as president of the Billy Graham Association.

2005 - held his "last crusade" in New York City.

2007 - the Billy Graham Library was opened in Charlotte, North Carolina.

2007 - Ruth Bell Graham died.

2010 - prayed for Barack Obama in his Montreat home.

2012 - met with Mitt Romney.

2013 -marked his 95th birthday with the My Hope digital and home-based evangelistic campaign. 22,000 churches participated.

2013 - singer George Beverly Shea, Billy Graham's first team member, died at the age of 104.

21 February, 2018 - Billy Graham died in Montreat, North Carolina