26 February 1928: Ariel Sharon is born at Kfar Malal. His parents, Samuel and Vera Scheinerman, had arrived six years earlier from Russia
1948: Sharon became commander in Israeli army and particpated in the war of independence
1953: Prime minister David Ben-Gurion chose Sharon to head a new, elite squad called Unit 101
1956: Brigade led by Sharon captures strategic Mitla Pass during Suez war.
June 1967: Major-General Sharon took Mitla Pass and Abu Agheila during six-day war
1970-71: Crushes dissent in occupied Gaza by relocating 160,000 refugees
October 1973: Called back to active duty for Yom Kippur war. Relieved of duty in February 1974
December 1973: Sharon became a Knesset member for capitalist Liberal party
1975: Appointed security adviser to Labour prime minister Yitzhak Rabin
1977: Forms Shlomtzion political party, which wins two seats in 1977 elections. Merges party with Likud, and becomes minister of agriculture
1981: Appointed minister of defence after narrow Likud win in elections, and starts planning to alter regional map
June 1982: Launches Operation Peace for Galilee, later known as the first Lebanon war
February 1983: Resigns as minister of defence
October 1998: As newly appointed foreign minister, signs the Wye River agreement, which granted Palestinians control over 13% of the West Bank
May 1999: Netanyahu lost national elections and Sharon assumed party leadership
February 2001: Comfortably defeated Labour incumbent Ehud Barak in Israel’s last direct prime ministerial elections
2002: Suicide bombings prompted Sharon to reoccupy Palestinian cities
January 2003: Likud party wins a resounding victory in elections for the Knesset, and Sharon is returned as prime minister
April 2003: America releases “roadmap to peace”, which Sharon accepted, despite some objections. He commits Israel to withdraw from West Bank cities and release more Palestinian prisoners
February 2004: Sharon says Israel will pull out troops from Gaza and evacuate all 22 settlements in the strip, but Likud party members reject plan in May
February 2005: Declared truce while speaking alongside Mahmoud Abbas at summit
August 2005: Dismantled all Jewish settlements in Gaza amid fierce protests.
November 2005: Resigned from Likud and dissolves parliament to create new centrist party from scratch called Kadima
18 December 2005: Rushed to hospital after suffering stroke. Discharged after two days with surgery to repair a small hole in his heart scheduled for early January
4 January 2006: Suffers another stroke and collapses in bathroom. Operated on for seven hours at Hadassah hospital on edge of Jerusalem, but never regains consciousness
March 2006: Kadima – with Ehud Olmert as leader – sweeps aside Labour and Likud in elections
14 April 2006: Declared “permanently incapacitated”, having been in a coma for 100 days. Olmert confirmed as prime minister
January 2013: Doctors say “significant” brain activity detected during tests on Sharon’s brain, but chances of him regaining consciousness still near zero
11 January 2014: Sharon died at Sheba Medical Centre, the long-term care facility near Tel Aviv where he had lain since May 2006
