1910s

1913 [September 12] Mary Emma Owens gives birth to James Cleveland (J.C.) Owens in Oakville, Alabama.

1920s
1922 The Owens family moves to Cleveland, Ohio. James Cleveland Owens enrolls in Bolton Elementary School where he becomes known as "Jesse" (from "J.C.") Owens. 1928 Owens sets his first records in the high jump and long jump at Fairmount Junior High School under coach and life-long mentor, Charles Riley.

Jesse Owens in high school. Photo date unkown.

1930s
1930 Owens enrolls into Clevelands East Technical School. Riley follows as a volunteer assistant coach. Owens and Minnie Ruth Solomon meet. 1932 Owens competes in the Midwestern preliminary trials at Northwestern University. Owens loses all three events in which he competes. Jesse Owens and Minnie Ruth Solomon get married. [August] Minnie Ruth gives birth to their first child, Gloria. [Autumn] Owens is elected president of his senior class and captain of the track team. 1933 [Spring] Owens finishes first in 75 of the 79 competitions he enters. He breaks the long-jump record at the state interscholastic finals. At the National Championship in Chicago, Owens wins the long jump, sets a new world record in the 220-yard dash and ties the world record in the 100-yard dash.

Jesse Owens and Minnie Ruth Solomon get married in 1932.

[October 9] Owens enrolls in The Ohio State University.

1935 Owens is appointed as an honorary page for a legislative committee at the Ohio Statehouse. [May 25] Owens sets world records in the 220-yard dash, 220-yard low hurdles and the long jump in less than one hour at the Big Ten Finals in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 1936 [June 15] Owens finishes his last quarter at OSU before the Olympics.
Jesse Owens crosses the finish line while running for OSU. Photo date unkown.

[July] Owens participates in the Olympic tryout finals in New York, winning all three events (100m, 200m, and long jump). [August] Owens wins four gold medals in the Olympic Games. He sets new world records in the 200 meter race (20.7 seconds), long jump (26 feet, 5 inches), and 400 meter relay (39.8 seconds), while tying the world record for 100 meter dash (10.3 seconds). [Winter] Owens becomes ineligible to compete for Ohio State due to poor academic standings. Owens races a thoroughbred horse in Cuba for $2,000. Owens wins the race. 1937 [January] Jesse signs a contract with Consolidated Radio Artists as an entertainer.

Ruth and Jesses second child, Marlene, is bo 1938

Jesse Owens competes in the long jump at the 1936 Olympics. Owens wins the gold medal in the event and sets a new world record of 26 feet, 5 inches.

Owens works for Cleveland's Parks and Recreation Department. Owens founds Jesse Owens Dry Cleaning Company.

1939 Owens files for personal bankruptcy.

1940s
1940 Ruth and Jesses third child, Beverly, is born.

[October 1] Owens returns to OSU but he is s on academic probation. 1941 [December 19] Owens withdraws from OSU. 1942 [January] Owens is appointed the Director of National Fitness by the U.S. Office of Civilian Defense. 1943 Ford Motor Co. hires Owens as Assistant Personnel Director of African-American workers. He is then promoted to director, then later works in public relations. 1949 Owens and his family move to Chicago, where he establishes a public relations agency.

1950s
1950 The Associated Press names Owens the greatest track athlete of the past half-century. 1953 [December] Gloria, Owens eldest daughter, graduates from OSU. Owens is appointed secretary of Illinois' State Athletic Commission. 1955 Owens travels to India, Philippines, and Malaysia to lead running clinics, but also to promote the economic and political freedoms of the United States.

1956 Owens and several other former U.S. Olympic champions attend the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, as personal representatives of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

1960s
1960 Marlene, Jesses second-eldest daughter, is voted Homecoming Queen at OSU, becoming the first African American to receive the honor.
Jesse Owens visits with children in the Philippines in the 1950s.

1961 Marlene graduates from OSU. 1965 The first ARCO Jesse Owens Games is established. [February] Owens becomes the training and running coach during spring training for the New York Mets baseball team.

1970s
1970 Owens memoir, Blackthink: My Life as Black Man and White Man, is published. 1971 President Richard Nixon sends Owens to the Ivory Coast in West Africa to lead running clinics and promote economic and political freedoms of the United States. 1972 OSU awards Owens with an honorary doctorate of athletic arts "for his unparalleled skill and ability" as an athlete and for "his personification of sportsmanship ideals." 1973 U.S. Olympic Committee appoints Owens to its board of directors. He spends most of his time in this position pushing for funding to equip and train U.S. athletes. 1974 Owens is inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame.

1976

President Gerald Ford presents Owens with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the civilian honor given by the U.S. government. 1979 Owens, a lifetime smoker, is diagnosed with lung cancer.

1980s
OSU awards Jesse Owens an honorary degree during its spring 1972 commencement.

1980 [March 31] Owens dies at the age of 66. 1984 [May 4] The Jesse Owens Memorial Plaza is dedicated outside of Ohio Stadium. [July 8] "The Jesse Owens Story" debuts on television with actor Dorian Harewood playing Owens.

1990s
1996 [June 29] Jesse Owens Memorial Park is dedicated in Oakville, Alabama.

2000s
Jesse and Ruth Owens are pictured with President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford after the 1976 ceremony to award Owens the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

2001 Ruth Owens dies at the age of 86.

2009 [November 6] At a hearing held at OSU, state lawmakers hear testimony on why Owens should be chosen for a statue to be placed in the Nation Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.