1902 - Born February 20, in San Francisco.
1914 - Displays musical talent. Teaches himself to play the piano.
1916 - Takes pictures with his very first camera on a family trip to Yosemite National Park. He would return to Yosemite every year for the rest of his life.
1917 - Works at a Photo-finishing business.
1922 - Publishes first illustrated article in Sierra Club Bulletin.
1925 - Decides to become a concert pianist.
1927 - Takes the photo Monolith, The Face of Half Dome. Publishes first portfolio, Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras.
1928 - Marries Virginia Best in Yosemite.
1930 - Becomes completely dedicated to photography after meeting photographer Paul Strand. Publishes Taos Pueblo.
1931 - Has an exhibition of 60 prints at the Smithsonian Institution.
1932 - Co-founder of photography group, "f/64".
1933 - Opens his own gallery in San Francisco.
1935 - Publishes Making a Photograph: An Introduction to Photography.
1937 - His darkroom in Yosemite burns - and destroys 20 percent of his negatives.
1938 - Publishes Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail.
1940 - Helps found Department of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art.
1941 - Develops Zone System of photography - a technique of exposure and development control. Publishes Michael and Anne in Yosemite Valley.
1946 - Recieves Guggenheim Fellowship to photograph national parks. Publishes Illustrated Guide to Yosemite Valley.
1948 - Guggenheim fellowship renewed. Publishes Photo Series I: Camera and Lens and 2: The Negative. Also publishes Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, and issues Portfolio I.
1949 - Becomes consultant for Polaroid Corporation.
1950 - Publishes Basic Photo Series 3 and My Camera in Yosemite Valley. Issues Portfolio 2.1952 - Publishes Basic Photo Series 4.
1953 - Does Life magazine photo essay on the Mormons in Utah.
1954 - Publishes Death Valley, Mission San Xavier del Bac, and The Pageant of History in Northern California.
1956 - Publishes Basic Photo Series 5.
1958 - Recieves third Giggenheim fellowship. Publishes The Islands of Hawaii.
1959 - Publishes Yosemite Valley.
1960 - Publishes This is the American Earth, and releases Portfolio 3.
1962 - Publishes Death Valley and the Creek Called Furnace and These We Inherit: The Parklands of America.1963 - Releases Portfolio 4.
1965 - Named to President Johnson's environmental task force.
1970 - Publishes The Tetons and the Yellowstone.
1975 - Helps found Center for Creative Photography at University of Arizona. His archives are established there.
1976 - Publishes Photographs of the Southwest.
1978 - Publishes Polaroid Land Photography and Ansel Adams: 50 Years of Portraits.
1979 - Publishes Yosemite and the Range of Light.
1980 - Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Carter.
1984 - Dies on April 22.