Elvis Aaron Presley

1935 - Born on the 8th of January in Tupelo, Mississippi.

1936 - On the 5th of April, Elvis survived the fourth deadliest tornado in US history in the Tupelo community that took 233 lives.

1941 - He started school at the East Tupelo Consolidated.

1946 - Presley started at a new school, Milam, which went from grades 5 through 9, but in 1948 the family left Tupelo, moving 110 miles northwest to Memphis, Tennessee.

1953 - He graduated from Humes, majoring in History, English, and Shop.

1953 - On the 18th of July, he paid $3.25 to record the first of two double-sided demo acetates at Sun Studios, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin", which were popular ballads at the time.

1954 - On the 5th of July, Presley began singing a blues song written by Arthur Crudup called "That's All Right". Phillips liked the resulting record and on the 19th July, he released it as a 78 rpm single backed with Presley's hopped up version of Bill Monroe's bluegrass song "Blue Moon of Kentucky".

1955 - On the 15th of August, he was signed by "Hank Snow Attractions", a management company jointly owned by singer Hank Snow and "Colonel" Tom Parker.

1956 - Presley began his movie career with Love Me Tender which opened on the 15th of November. The movies Jailhouse Rock and King Creole are regarded as among his best early films.

         - He was fast becoming a national phenomenon and teenagers came to his concerts in unprecedented numbers.

1957 - On the 20th of December, Presley received his draft board notice for his mandatory service in the United States Army.

1958 - On the 24th of March, he joined his unit, 1st Battalion, US 32nd Armored Regiment and was posted to Ray Barracks, Friedberg, Germany.

1960 - Presley returned to the United States on the 2nd of March, and was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant on the 5th of March.

1968 - This lead to a triumphant televised performance later dubbed the '68 Comeback Special, aired on the NBC television network on the 3rd of December, and released as an album by RCA. Although the Special featured big, lavish production numbers.

1969-1971 - He would dominate singles charts in many countries with a string of Top 20 hits, although this was at a time when album sales were growing significantly.

         - Released the album Elvis Country which became another gold award record.

1972 - Elvis started at the International in Vegas for more performances and released his new album Elvis Now which achieved a gold record.

1973 - He began the year with two sold-out January shows in Hawaii. The second show was broadcast live around the world. Known as the "Aloha from Hawaii" concert, it was the first of its kind to be broadcast worldwide via satellite and was seen by at least one billion viewers worldwide - a quarter of world population.

1974 - Won the Grammy for 'Best Inspirational Performance'. This was his third and final Grammy won out of fourteen nominations.

1977 - On the 6th of August, at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, Presley was found lying on the floor of his bedroom's bathroom by his fiancee, Ginger Alden, who had been asleep. A stain on the bathroom carpeting was found that indicated "where Elvis had thrown up after being stricken, apparently while seated on the toilet. It looked to the medical investigator as if he had 'stumbled or crawled several feet before he died'." He was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital, where at 3:30 P.M. doctors pronounced him dead. Presley was 42 years old, and when he died, "he weighed 159 kilograms".