1822: Born in Ohio

1843: Graduates from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York

1846-48 : Serves in the Mexican War; twice cited for bravery in combat

1854: Resigns from military

1861: Civil War begins; Grant rises from commander of a volunteer regiment to the rank of lieutenant general, which until then had been held only by George Washington

1865: Accepts surrender of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, effectively ending the Civil War

1869-77: Serves two terms as eighteenth U.S. president

1869: Financial crisis called Black Friday causes stock market to close on September 24

1872-73: Crédit Mobilier financial scandal hits Grant administration

1873: Another financial crisis—the Panic of 1873—hits the United States

1877: Grant family tours the world, and Grant meets with the heads of states of many European, African, and Asian nations

1880: Grant runs for an unprecedented third term, but loses...