October 15, 1931: Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam is born in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, to boat owner Jainulabudeen and mother Ashiamma.

1954: Graduated in Physics from Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli; moves to Madras (Chennai) to pursue further education after graduation.

1960: Joined the aeronautical development establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation as a scientist.

1969: Transferred to the Indian Space Research Organisation, where he was the project director of India's first satellite launch vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near-earth orbit in July 1980.

1970: Kalam heads Project Devil and Project Valiant, the two early indigenously developed liquid-fueled missile projects, which developed ballistic projectiles from the technology of the SLV programme.

1981: Honoured with Padma Bhushan

1988: Kalam, along with other scientists, develop the Prithvi and Agni missiles through the 1980s. As the chief of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, he is credited with the development and operationalisation of the Agni and Prithvi missiles, the latter of which is first tested in February 1988.

1990: Honoured with Padma Vibhushan

July 1992-December 1999: Scientific advisor to defence minister and secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development

May 1998: Kalam helmed Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II) was initiated with the detonation of one fusion and two fission bombs. The tests, which made Kalam a household name, led to the declaration of India as a full-fledged nuclear state.

November 1999 to November 2001: Principal scientific advisor to the government of India, with the rank of a Cabinet minister

November 2001: Took up academic pursuit as professor, technology & societal transformation at Anna University, Chennai

July 25, 2002: Became the 11th President of India

May 2012: Now a former President, the ageing Kalam launched a programme for the youth of India called the ‘What Can I Give Movement’, with a central theme of defeating corruption.

July 27, 2015: Kalam collapsed while delivering a lecture on ‘The Livable Planet Earth’ at the IIM Shillong. Although he was quickly rushed to the hospital he was confirmed dead of a massive cardiac arrest more than two hours later. Kalam would have turned 84 in October 2015.