Timeline: Yasser Arafat

Key dates in Yasser Arafat's life:

— Aug. 4, 1929: Born in Cairo, Egypt, fifth child of Palestinian merchant Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini.

— 1933: Mother Zahwa dies. Arafat and infant brother Fathi sent to Jerusalem to live with uncle.

— 1949: Moves back to Cairo; forms Palestinian Students' League.

— August 1956: Attends international student congress in Prague, Czechoslovakia, secures membership for Palestine. For first time, wears Palestinian headdress, or keffiyeh, that becomes his trademark.

— Jan. 1, 1965: Forms Fatah guerrilla movement; two days later attempts first attack on Israel, abortive bombing of water canal in Galilee.

— March 21, 1968: Israeli army attack on PLO base at Karameh, Jordan, inflicts heavy losses, but seen as victory for Arafat and his group; thousands join PLO.

— Feb. 4, 1969: Arafat takes over PLO chairmanship, transforms it into dynamic force that makes Palestinian cause known worldwide.

— Nov. 13, 1974: Arafat addresses U.N. General Assembly.

— June 6, 1982: Israel invades Lebanon to crush PLO, forcing Arafat and loyalists to flee Beirut.

— Oct. 1, 1985: Arafat narrowly escapes death in Israeli air raid on PLO headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia.

— April 16, 1988: Khalil al-Wazir, Arafat's military commander, also known as Abu Jihad, assassinated in Tunis; Israel blamed.

— Dec. 12, 1988: Arafat accepts Israel's right to exist, renounces terrorism.

— Aug. 2, 1990: Iraq invades Kuwait; Arafat supports Saddam Hussein, resulting in PLO's isolation.

— November 1991: Arafat secretly marries 28-year-old secretary, Suha Tawil, in Tunis. Their daughter Zahwa born July 24, 1995, in Paris.

— April 7, 1992: Arafat rescued after plane crash lands in Libyan desert during sandstorm, killing two pilots and engineer and leaving Arafat bruised and shaken.

— Sept. 13, 1993: Israel and PLO sign accord on Palestinian autonomy in Oslo, Norway, giving Arafat control of most of Gaza Strip and 27 percent of West Bank. Arafat shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on White House lawn.

— July 1, 1994: Returning from exile, a triumphant Arafat sets foot on Palestinian soil for the first time in 26 years.

— Dec. 10, 1994: Arafat wins Nobel Peace Prize, along with Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

— Nov. 4, 1995: Ultranationalist Jew assassinates Rabin at peace rally in Tel Aviv, Israel.

— Nov. 9, 1995: Arafat makes first visit to Israel in secret trip to offer condolences to Rabin's widow.

— Jan. 20, 1996: Arafat elected president of Palestinian Authority in first Palestinian elections.

— Jan. 15, 1997: Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sign accord on Israeli pullout from 80 percent of West Bank city of Hebron.

— Oct. 23, 1998: Israeli and Palestinian leaders meeting at Wye River, Md., agree on interim land-for-peace deal on West Bank.

— July 11, 2000: Seeking final peace deal, President Clinton convenes "Camp David II" and sequesters Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Arafat for nine days. Afterward, White House declares summit failure.

— Sept. 28, 2000: Israel's then opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, visits Jerusalem shrine holy to Jews and Muslims, leading to clashes that escalate into second Palestinian uprising.

— Dec. 3, 2001: After three suicide bombings, Israel destroys Arafat's three helicopters in Gaza City, grounding him and effectively confining him to West Bank town of Ramallah.

— Jan. 18, 2002: Two Israeli tanks and armored personnel carrier park outside Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, confining him to office complex after Palestinian gunman bursts into banquet hall and kills six Israelis. In three ensuing military sieges, compound's walls torn down, along with most buildings, except for Arafat's three-story tan stucco office.

— March 27, 2002: Palestinian suicide bomber kills 29 people at Passover holiday meal at Park Hotel in Netanya, prompting Israeli incursion into West Bank.

— March 29, 2002: Israeli Cabinet declares Arafat an "enemy." Troops seize Ramallah, including most of Arafat's headquarters compound, further pinning in once globe-trotting leader.

— April 2, 2002: Arafat, responding to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's offer of permanent exile, says he would rather die than leave West Bank.

— June 24, 2002: Siding with Sharon, President Bush calls on Palestinians to replace Arafat as leader.

— April 29, 2003: Palestinian parliament confirms Arafat's deputy, Mahmoud Abbas, as first Palestinian prime minister, appointment pushed for by United States and Israel in effort to sideline Arafat.

— June 4, 2003: At first major Israeli-Palestinian summit without Arafat, Sharon and Bush launch "road map" peace plan, which aims to end fighting and create Palestinian state by 2005.

— Sept. 6, 2003: Abbas, weakened by power struggle with Arafat, resigns and replaced by parliament speaker Ahmed Qureia.

— Oct. 21, 2003: Arafat is diagnosed with gallstones.

— Oct. 27, 2004: Palestinian officials say Arafat collapses and briefly unconscious, two days after being diagnosed with another gallstone.

— Oct. 29, 2004: Arafat flown to hospital in France with serious, undisclosed illness.

— Nov. 9, 2004: French medical team acknowledges Arafat has been in a coma for a week, says condition has worsened significantly.

— Nov. 11, 2004: Arafat dies at age 75.