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Billy Pilgrim is born in Ilium, New York on July 4th, 1922.
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Billy's father dies in a hunting accident while Billy is in the Army. Billy's dad is known for pushing him to the edge, by forcing Billy to do things like stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon, or swim in the deep end of the pool with no swimming experience.
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Billy is sent to Luxembourg in 1944 to fight Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. Almost immediately, Billy is taken prisoner by the Germans. Just before being captured, Billy experiences his first instance of 'time travel' where he sees his life from beginning to end.
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Dresden, once known as a beautiful German city, suffered a very controversial bombing from the US in 1945; the story seems to revolve around this event.
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Billy is elected president of the Lions Club in Ilium, New York.
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Billy meets his favorite author, Kilgore Trout. They bond over science fiction, and Billy briefly helps him deliver papers.
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Billy is captured by an alien race and taken billions of miles away from Earth and taught the nature of time. The aliens who captured him were known as the Tralfamadorians.
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A plane holding Billy, and a group of optometrists crashes, leaving only Billy to survive.
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Billy's wife, Valencia, dies while Billy is recovering from the plane crash of carbon monoxide poisoning
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Billy is assassinated in Chicago by someone hired by Lazarro during Billy's time travel speech. This was Lazarro keeping his promise to seek revenge on Ronald Weary's death.