1882: Born in New York

1907: Passes bar exam

1910-13: Serves as New York state senator

1913-20: Serves as assistant secretary of the U.S. navy

1914-18: World War I

1914: Runs unsuccessfully as U.S. senate candidate

1920: Runs unsuccessfully as Democratic vice presidential candidate

1921: Stricken with polio

1929-41: Great Depression

1929-33: Serves as New York governor

1933-45: Serves as thirty-second U.S. president

1933: New deal programs begin in Congress

1939-45 World War II

1941: United States enters World War II after Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor

1945: Dies in Georgia; Japanese surrender, ending World War II