1757 CE: Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette is born in the French province of Auvergne.

1777 CE: Lafayette leaves France against the king's wishes, beginning his two month voyage to America.

1777 CE: Lafayette receives his commission as a major general in the Continental Army in Philadelphia.

1777 CE: Battle of Brandywine Creek; George Washington's army is defeated by British forces after 11 hours of fighting. Lafayette is wounded.

1781 CE: Siege of Yorktown results in the surrender of British army led by Lord Cornwallis. News of the defeat led Britain to enter into peace negotiations with the colonists.

1789 CE: The Estates-General convenes in Versailles for the first time in 175 years.

1789 CE: Lafayette presents a draft of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to the National Assembly.

1789 CE: Lafayette is appointed commander of the newly formed National Guard, and charged with keeping order in Paris.

1790 CE: Lafayette helps organize and lead the Fete de Federation, a festival celebrating the French Revolution. He takes an oath swearing loyalty to the nation, the law and the king.

1791 CE: National Guard soldiers under Lafayette's command open fire at an anti-monarchy demonstration at the Champ de Mars in Paris. Several French citizens are killed.

1792 CE - 1797 CE: Upon fleeing France after the Jacobin rise to power, Lafayette is captured by the Austrians and imprisoned for five years.

1807 CE: Adrienne de Lafayette, wife of the marquis, dies.

1824 CE: Lafayette returns to the United States where he embarks on a grand tour, visiting each of the 24 states in the union.

1830 CE: During the Revolution of 1830, Lafayette supports Louis-Philippe as king; Charles X abdicates.

1834 CE: Marquis de Lafayette dies aged 76.