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Born in Brookline, Mass. to Joe and Rose Kennedy
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Graduates with a bachelor of science degree from Harvard University.
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Awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and Purple Heart for his actions while in command of PT-109.
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Honorably discharged from the Navy with the full rank of lieutenant.
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Elected as a U.S. representative for the 11th Congressional District in Boston at age 29. He is re-elected in 1948 and 1950.
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Elected as senator from Massachusetts and re-elected in 1958.
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Undergoes surgery for a back injury he received during the PT-109 incident.
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Loses his bid for the Democratic nomination for vice president.
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Announces his candidacy for president of the United States.
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Receives the Democratic nomination for president.
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NOV. 8,1960: Defeats Richard M. Nixon to become the 35th president of the United States. Kennedy wins by a margin of 2/10 of 1 percent with 49.75 percent of the votes. Nixon receives 49.55 percent.
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At age 43, takes the oath of office to become the 35th president of the United States. He is the youngest elected president and the first president to be Roman Catholic.
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Signs a bill creating the Peace Corps.
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Delivers a speech at Rice University, pledging that the United States will put a man on the moon "before the end of this decade." Seven years later, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.
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Signs the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in Washington, D.C.
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Sends a presidential statement to be read at the Centennial Ceremony in Gettysburg National Military Park, where Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.
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Kennedy begins his tour of Texas. His destinations are San Antonio, Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas and Austin.
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John Fitzgerald Kennedy is shot at 12:30 p.m. while riding in an open-top limousine in a motorcade through downtown Dallas.
