| Sep 1942 | 
Muammar Qaddafi born. | 
| 1963 | 
Graduates from the University of Libya. | 
| 1965 | 
Graduates from the Royal Libyan Military Academy, Benghazi. | 
| 1 Sep 1969 | 
Troops led by Muammar Qaddafi execute Operation Jerusalem, seizing control of Libya in a military coup. | 
| 1970 | 
Expels U.S. and British military bases from Libya. | 
| 1970 | 
Expels Jews from Libya. | 
| 1973 | 
Nationalizes oil companies. | 
| Sep 1978 | 
Billy Carter visits Libya. Why Libya? "The only thing I can say is there is a hell of a lot more Arabians than there is Jews." | 
| 2 Dec 1979 | 
U.S. Embassy in Libya attacked and burned by a mob. | 
| Nov 1981 | 
Libya purported to have dispatched assassins targeting Ronald Reagan. | 
| 5 Apr 1986 | 
Libyan agents bomb La Belle Disco, West Berlin. | 
| 14 Apr 1986 | 
U.S. bombs targets in Tripoli and Benghazi. | 
| 21 Dec 1988 | 
Libyan agents place a bomb on Pan Am Flight 103, which detonates over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270. | 
| 31 Jan 2001 | 
Libyan agent Abd al-Basit Ali Megrahi found guilty of the Lockerbie bombing by a Scottish court in the Netherlands. |