1957: Osama bin Laden is born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is 17th of 52 children. His father, Mohammed Bin Laden was the country's wealthiest construction magnate.
1979: Bin Laden graduates from university in Jiddah, with a degree in civil engineering.
1979: Bin Laden leaves Saudi Arabia to join Afghan resistance against Soviet Union.
1989: Returns to Saudi Arabia after Soviets pull out of Afghanistan. He uses his network to raise money for veterans of the Afghan war, according to CNN.
1990: United States bases troops in Saudi Arabia after Iraq invades Kuwait. The stationing of non-Muslims in the Muslim holy land enrages Bin Laden, who begins to write political treatises against the Saudi regime.
1991: Saudi government expels Bin Laden for his anti-government actions. His family disowns him. Saudi Arabia revokes citizenship, and he travels to Sudan.
1993: Six radical Muslims suspected to be connected with Bin Laden are convicted for bombing the World Trade Center.
1996: U.S. and Saudi Arabia pressure Sudan to give Bin Laden up. He moves to Afghanistan. He declares holy war against the United States and 19 U.S. soldiers are killed in a bombing at the Khobar military complex in Saudi Arabia.
2000: Signs surface that Bin Laden is running training camps for his holy war.
2001: Bin Laden is the top suspect and architect of Sept. 11 attack on the United States.
2002: Bin Laden keeps low profile, believed to be in Afghanistan still. U.S. forces in Afghanistan topple the Taliban.
2003: Bin Laden calls for all Muslims to united in holy war against the West.
2011: After years of intermittent video and written messages to the world, Bin Laden is killed, President Obama announced from the White House.
(Sources: CNN, PBS, Guardian)
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