| 1904 - |
Salvador Dali born May 11, in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain |
| 1921 - |
Dali's mother dies |
| 1922 - |
Exhibits paintings in Barcelona, Spain, Attends art school in Madrid, Spain |
| 1925 - |
First single artist exhibition in Barcelona |
| 1926 - |
First trip to Paris, where he meets Pablo Picasso |
| 1928 - |
Basket of Bread exhibited at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh |
| 1929 - |
Second trip to Paris, where he meets Andre Breton, founder of Surrealism, Makes film Un Chien Andalou with Luis Bunuel, Meets future wife, Gala Eluard Officially joins the Surrealist Movement |
| 1930 - |
Settles in Port Lligat, Spain |
| 1931 - |
Paints Persistence of Memory |
| 1934 - |
Dali and Gala marry in civil ceremony Dali and Gala's first trip to New York City |
| 1936 - |
Flees Spanish Civil War, moves to Paris, Wears diving suit for lecture in London, England, Appears on cover of Time Magazine |
| 1938 - |
Visits Sigmund Freud in London |
| 1939 - |
Designs exhibit for New York World's Fair |
| 1940 - |
Dali and Gala escape from Europe during German occupation, seek refuge in United States lasting eight years, Paints first work in exile, Daddy Longlegs of the Evening - Hope! |
| 1941 - |
First retrospective at Museum of Modern Art, New York |
| 1942 - |
Publishes creative autobiography The Secret Life of Salvador Dali |
| 1943 - |
Meets Eleanor and Reynolds Morse, lifelong friends and major collectors |
| 1945 - |
Works with Alfred Hitchcock on film Spellbound |
| 1946 - |
Works with Walt Disney on animated film Destino |
| 1949 - |
Paints first large-sized religious canvas, Madonna of Port Lligat |
| 1950 - |
Declares his art "Nuclear Mysticism", Dali's father dies |
| 1958 - |
Dali and Gala remarry in a religious ceremony |
| 1964 - |
Awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, one of Spain's highest decorations |
| 1969 - |
Starts painting The Hallucinogenic Toreador, completed the following year |
| 1971 - |
The Morses open their Dali collection in Beachwood, Ohio |
| 1974 - |
Dali opens his own museum, the Teatro-Museo Dali, in Figueres, Spain |
| 1982 - |
Dali Museum opens in St. Petersburg, Florida, Gala dies in her castle in Pubol, Spain, on June 10, King Juan Carlos confers the title of Marquis of Dali of Pubol on Dali because of the artist's exceptional contribution to Spanish culture |
| 1983 - |
Dali Foundation established in Figueres, Spain |
| 1989 - |
Dali dies of heart failure in Figueres, Spain, on January 23 |
