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1923: Born Nov. 18 in Indianapolis, the third of four children.
Mid-1920s: Family moves to Chicago; father works as accountant.1929-30: Father loses job after stock market crash; parents divorce; siblings return to Indianapolis to live with grandparents, father.1938: Moves to Manhattan Beach, Calif., to live with aunt after father dies.1942: Graduates from Redondo Union High School, Redondo Beach, Calif. Enrolls in Oregon State University; attends one semester.1943: Enrolls in Montana State College for Army Air Corps cadet training. Joins U.S. Army Air Corps in Santa Ana, Calif., receives wings in 1944.1944-46: Serves as transport pilot flying C-46s and C-47s in China-Burma-India theater during WW II; receives Distinguished Flying Cross.1947: Graduates with B.A. in political science, UCLA.1950: Graduates Harvard Law School, admitted to the bar in Washington, D.C.1950: Hired by Washington D.C. law firm, legal adviser to Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy.1952: Marries Ann Mary Cherrington in Denver, Colo. The union produces five children. Drives up Alaska Highway to practice law in Fairbanks.1953: Appointed U.S. Attorney, Fairbanks.1956: Moves to D.C. as legislative counsel for Interior Dept., works for Alaska statehood.1957: Passes Alaska bar.1960: Appointed chief counsel to Interior Sec'y Fred Seaton.1961: Returns to Alaska after Kennedy election to practice law in Anchorage.1962: Runs for U.S. Senate; defeated by incumbent Democrat, Sen. Ernest Gruening.1964: Elected to Alaska State House. Re-elected in 1966;1968: Runs for U.S. Senate; loses primary to Anchorage banker Elmer Rasmuson (who loses in general election to Democrat Mike Gravel).1968: Appointed to U.S. Senate by Alaska Gov. Walter Hickel on death of Sen. E.L. Bartlett.1970: Elected to U.S. Senate in a special election to complete Bartlett's term.1972: Re-elected to U.S. Senate with 77 percent of the vote.1973: Helps win U.S. Senate approval of Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act by one-vote margin.1978: Re-elected to U.S. Senate with 76 percent of the vote. Survives Learjet crash at Anchorage International Airport; five people die, including wife Ann.1980: Marries Catherine Bittner Chandler. Union produces daughter Lily.1984: Re-elected to U.S. Senate with 71 percent of the vote.1990: Re-elected to U.S. Senate with 66 percent of the vote.1996: Re-elected to U.S. Senate with 77 percent of the vote.1997: Chairs Senate Appropriations Committee from 1997 to 2001 and 2003 to 2005; directs more than $3 billion in federal money to Alaska from 1995 to 2008.1998: Receives first of 10 "Oinker Awards" for wasteful government spending, from Citizens Against Government Waste.2000: Voted "Alaskan of the Century" by Alaskan of the Year Committee. Legislature renames state's largest airport the "Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport."2002: Re-elected to U.S. Senate with 78 percent of the vote; becomes longest serving Republican senator.2003: Appointed president pro tempore U.S. Senate, serves through 2007.2007: FBI and IRS agents raid his Girdwood home on July 30.2008: Files for re-election on Feb. 21 for eighth term in U.S. Senate.2008: Indicted July 29, 2008,on seven federal criminal counts. Sources: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress; 2008 Almanac of American Politics; Who's Who is Alaskan Politics, Anchorage Daily News files