| 31 Dec 1943 |
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. born in Roswell, New Mexico. |
| c. 1964 |
Begins calling himself "John Denver" because of his fondness for the Rocky Mountains. |
| 1966 |
Meets Annie Martell in St. Peter, Minnesota. |
| 9 Jun 1967 |
Marries Annie Martell. |
| 1974 |
Governor John Vanderhoof names Denver Colorado's Poet Laureate. |
| 1976 |
Purchases 1,000 acres in Snowmass, Colorado, for an environmental school and learning center called "Windstar". |
| 1982 |
Divorces Annie Martell. |
| 19 Sep 1985 |
Senatorial hearings are held regarding pornography in music, and what steps the senate might take to fix this problem. The hearings are at the behest of the Parents' Music Resource Center (PMRC), co-founded by Tipper Gore, wife of Senator Al Gore. Three musicians come to speak on behalf of artists: Frank Zappa, Dee Snider, and John Denver. Denver's testimony most famously includes describing how his song Rocky Mountain High was dropped from radio stations because it was assumed to be about drug use. |
| 1986 |
Meets Cassandra Delaney, in Sydney, Australia. |
| 12 Aug 1988 |
Marries Cassandra Delaney. |
| 1993 |
Divorces Cassandra Delaney. |
| Jan 1994 |
Ford Introduces the "Windstar", a minivan that gets 17mpg city, 24mpg highway. |
| Aug 1994 |
John Denver slams his antique yellow Porsche into a cluster of trees in his Aspen, Colorado neighborhood. His blood level is listed at .128, above the state's legal limit of under the influence. |
| Mar 1995 |
DUI charges against Denver are set aside. The judge rules that trying Denver would amount to double punishment (double jeopardy) due to his previous administrative hearing to suspend his driver's license. |
| Mar 1997 |
The Federal Aviation Administration disqualifies John Denver for an avation medical certificate, citing his drinking problem. An aviation medical certificate is required for a valid pilot's license. |
| 13 Jul 1997 |
The trial against John Denver for the drunken driving ends in a hung jury, deadlocked 3-3. Denver's defense attorney had argued that Denver suffered from a thyroid condition that skewed blood alcohol tests. |
| 12 Oct 1997 |
Folk singer John Denver dies when his newest toy, a homebuilt Long-EZ single-seat airplane, crashes into the ocean near Monterey, California. Unfortunately, the person who constructed the plane opted to locate the fuel tank selector valve behind the pilot's left shoulder. In order for Denver to reach back and switch tanks, he had to let go of the flight controls. At which point, the aircraft plunged 500 feet into the Pacific Ocean. Divers later recover most of the body, but not the head. Denver is ultimately identified by his fingerprints. |