The Canadian Press

The following is a chronology of major events in the political and personal life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau:

Oct. 18, 1919: Joseph Phillippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau born in Montreal.

Nov. 8, 1965: First elected MP in Mount Royal riding of Montreal.

April 4, 1967: Sworn into Privy Council as justice minister under prime minister Lester Pearson.

April 6, 1968: Wins Liberal leadership.

April 20, 1968: Sworn in as Canada’s 15th prime minister.

June 25, 1968: Liberals sweep to majority government.

Sept. 7, 1969: Official Languages Act receives Royal Assent.

Oct. 16, 1970: Mr. Trudeau invokes War Measures Act.

March 4, 1971: Marries Margaret Sinclair.

Oct. 30, 1972: Liberals win minority government.

July 8, 1974: Federal election returns Liberal majority.

Oct. 13, 1975: Announces wage and price controls after ridiculing the proposal a year earlier.

May 27, 1977: Pierre and Margaret Trudeau announce their legal separation.

May 22, 1979: Joe Clark’s Conservatives win minority government.

June 4, 1979: Mr. Trudeau resigns as prime minister.

Nov. 21, 1979: Announces his intention to resign from politics the following spring.

Dec. 13, 1979: Clark government fails on non-confidence vote.

Dec. 18, 1979: Announces he will lead Liberals in the federal election.

Feb. 18, 1980: Liberals win majority government.

March 3, 1980: Sworn in as Canada’s 17th prime minister.

May 20, 1980: Quebecers vote 60-40 to reject a mandate to negotiate sovereignty association.

Oct. 28, 1980: National Energy Program introduced.

Nov. 5, 1981: After four days of negotiation, eight premiers and Mr. Trudeau agree on constitutional deal without consent of Quebec premier Rene Levesque, an act mythologized by Quebec nationalists as the Night of the Long Knives.

April 17, 1982: Proclamation of the Constitution Act.

Feb. 9, 1984: Mr. Trudeau’s one-man world peace initiative comes to an unofficial conclusion with speech in Commons.

Feb. 29, 1984: Announces retirement from politics.

April 2, 1984: Divorce of Pierre and Margaret Trudeau is finalized.

June 30, 1984: Officially steps down as prime minister.

March 30, 1988: Mr. Trudeau spends six hours speaking against the proposed Meech Lake constitutional accord before a Senate committee.

June 23, 1990: Meech Lake dies as deadline for ratification runs out.

Nov. 13, 1998: Michel Trudeau, youngest of three sons, drowns in a glacial B.C. lake after being caught in an avalanche.

Dec. 20, 1999: Mr. Trudeau named Canada’s newsmaker of the 20th century in a Canadian Press-Broadcast News poll of daily newspapers, radio and TV stations.