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1839
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July 8: John Davison Rockefeller is born in Richford, upstate New York, to William Avery ("Bill") Rockefeller, a travelling peddler of novelties and "cures," and Eliza Davison Rockefeller, a devout Baptist.
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1849
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Following allegations of rape, Bill Rockefeller moves his family to Owego, New York, close to the Pennsylvania border.
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1853
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The Rockefeller family moves again, to Strongsville, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, to the home of Bill Rockefeller's sister and brother-in-law.
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1855
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Bill Rockefeller marries Margaret Allen, a woman 25 years his junior, beginning a secret life as a bigamist.
Under pressure from his father, John D. Rockefeller drops out of high school two months shy of commencement. He enters a professional school, where he studies double-entry bookkeeping, penmanship, banking, and commercial law.
September 26: At 16, Rockefeller gets his first job, working for Hewitt & Tuttle, commission merchants and produce shippers. He would celebrate "job day" the rest of his life.
Rockefeller starts keeping careful accounts of his finances in Ledger A, where he meticulously notes every receipt, expenditure and charitable donation.
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1859
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August 28: Edwin Drake strikes oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, instigating an "Oil Rush" to the region.
Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" is published. The book's influence will be felt not only in science, but also in business and society at large.
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1861
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Civil War begins. Rockefeller, like some other northern businessmen, hires substitutes to avoid fighting. The war at first disrupts industry, but ultimately it will accelerate economic development in the North, contributing to Rockefeller's meteoric ascent.
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1863
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At 24, Rockefeller gets involved in the oil business, along with partners Maurice Clark and Samuel Andrews. Andrews, Clark & Co. builds a refinery in The Flats, Cleveland's burgeoning industrial area, which will soon be linked to the East Coast hubs by the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad.
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1864
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September 8: Rockefeller marries Laura Celestia ("Cettie") Spelman in a small, private ceremony, following a nine-year courtship.
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1865
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At 25, Rockefeller buys out his partners and founds Rockefeller & Andrew, Cleveland's largest refinery.
Laura gives birth to the Rockefellers' first child, Elizabeth ("Bessie").
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1868
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Rockefeller strikes a major deal with a railroad, guaranteeing a certain volume of shipments in exchange for rebates. The first of many, this deal was made with Jay Gould, owner of the Erie Railroad.
The Rockefellers move to Euclid Avenue, Cleveland's "Millionaires' Row."
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1870
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Rockefeller founds Standard Oil of Ohio with $1 million in capital, the largest corporation in the country. The new company controls 10% of U.S. petroleum refining.
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1871
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Laura gives birth to Alta.
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1872
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Rockefeller is tainted by the scandal surrounding the South Improvement Company scheme, a secret alliance between major refiners and the railroads. However, he uses the scheme to persuade other Cleveland refiners to sell out to Standard Oil. Following the so-called "Cleveland Massacre," Rockefeller owns 22 of the 26 refineries in town.
Laura gives birth to Edith.
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1873
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September 18: "Black Thursday." The stock exchange crash sets off a depression that will last six years. Standard Oil takes advantage of the economic downturn to absorb refineries in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, and Pennsylvania's Oil Region.
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1874
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January 29: Laura gives birth to John D. Jr.
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1877
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At 38, Rockefeller -- still relatively unknown to the public -- controls almost 90% of the oil refined in the United States.
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1879
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At 40, Rockefeller is numbered among the country's twenty richest men.
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1881
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"Atlantic Monthly" publishes "Story of a Great Monopoly," by Henry Demarest Lloyd. The article's critical view of Standard Oil strikes a chord with readers. Lloyd's book-length study of Standard Oil, "Wealth against Commonwealth," appears in 1894.
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1882
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Standard Oil trust is formed. Rockefeller creates a highly centralized structure with enormous power but murky legal existence.
Standard Oil builds up its distribution system, streamlining the delivery and sale of oil and underselling its adversaries.
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1883
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The Rockefellers move to New York and build a mansion at 4 West 54th Street.
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1885
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Standard Oil moves into new headquarters at 26 Broadway in New York. The address will become synonymous with Rockefeller's business empire.
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Mid-1880s
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Standard Oil expands into the overseas markets of Western Europe and Asia, selling more oil abroad than in the U.S.
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1887
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At age 13, John D. Rockefeller Jr. suffers a nervous collapse due to "overwork." He spends the winter at the family's country house, healing through hard physical work.
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1888
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Amid growing anti-monopoly sentiment, economic concentration becomes an issue in the presidential campaign. Both parties condemn it.
A New York Senate committee launches an investigation into Standard Oil. Rockefeller is called to the witness stand, and gives evasive testimony.
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1889
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Eliza, Rockefeller's mother, dies at age 76. Her estranged husband does not attend the ceremony. Rockefeller asks the minister to say that she was a widow.
Rockefeller agrees to contribute to the founding of a new Baptist college in Chicago. The University of Chicago will become his first major philanthropic undertaking.
Andrew Carnegie publishes "The Gospel of Wealth," arguing that the wealthy have a moral obligation to serve as stewards for society.
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1890
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July 2: Congress passes the Sherman Antitrust Act, which outlaws trusts and combinations in restraint of trade and establishes fines for violators. The law remains in effect today.
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1891
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Frederick Gates, a former Baptist minister, starts working for Rockefeller as a philanthropic administrator. Gates helps make Rockefeller's philanthropy more efficient.
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1893
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The stock market crashes, setting off the country's first great industrial depression. Bank closings and massive unemployment heighten social tension.
The World's Columbian Exposition takes place in Chicago. The Rockefellers attend.
Rockefeller buys 400 acres in the Pocantico hills of North Tarrytown, NY, on the Hudson River. He keeps the modest house that came with the property. The estate will eventually expand to 3,000 acres.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. enters Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
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Mid-1890s
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Coinciding with a stressful period, John D. Rockefeller Sr. develops alopecia, a rare condition that results in the loss of all his body hair.
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1895
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Edith marries Harold McCormick, the son of Chicago millionaire Cyrus McCormick, the developer of the mechanical reaper.
Rockefeller decides to retire from Standard Oil, gradually and secretly, in a move designed to keep the press and the public in the dark.
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1896
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Henry Ford assembles the first automobile. Just as electricity is starting to replace kerosene as an illuminant, gasoline enters the scene, creating a rising demand for oil.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. starts working at 26 Broadway. During the first few years, his role there will be marginal and ill defined.
Standard Oil contributes $250,000 to Republican William McKinley's presidential campaign against Democrat William Jennings Bryan, a supporter of antitrust legislation. The candidates' opposing views about trusts polarize public opinion on the issue.
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Late-1890s
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Standard Oil attains its peak influence. Its dividends surge to 31% and its control of the market is uncontested.
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1898
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Between 1898 and 1902, many follow the Rockefeller business model; 198 trusts are created in coal, sugar, and other industries.
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