1928: Born to Russian immigrants in the farming community of Kfar Malal north of Tel Aviv.

1948: After fighting in a Jewish militia opposed to British control, serves with distinction in Israel’s war of independence with Arab states. Ariel Sharon was severely wounded in a battle to break the siege of Jerusalem and carried the effects all his life, including near blindness in one eye.

1953: Heads Unit 101, a force carrying out reprisals for slaying of Israeli woman and her two children. In October, Sharon’s troops blow up more than 40 houses in Qibya, a village in the West Bank, then ruled by Jordan. Sixty-nine Arabs die, about half of them women and children. Sharon says later he thought the houses were empty.

1956: Rebuked after engaging his troops in what his commanders regard as unnecessary and unplanned battle with Egyptian forces at Mitla Pass in Sinai Peninsula.

1957: Studies at Staff College in the UK.

1967: Receives broad praise for his command of an armoured division in the Six-Day War, in which Israel captures the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula.

1971: Placed in charge of curbing resistance in Gaza Strip. More than 100 killed and hundreds detained. Attacks by Palestinians go from 34 in June to one in December.

1973: Commands drive by Israeli troops across the Suez Canal into Egypt during Mideast war. The assault cuts off Egypt’s 3rd Army and helps turn the tide in fighting, establishing his reputation as war hero to many. He is grazed by a bullet in the head during the fighting.

December 1973: Elected to Knesset on Likud ticket.

1974: Resigns from Knesset.

1975: Premier Yitzhak Rabin appoints him to the post of special adviser security affairs.

1976: Relinquishes post to form the independent Shlomtzion (peace of Zion) party.

1977: After gaining only two seats in May 1977 elections, Sharon opts to merge with victorious Likud block.

1977-81: Minister of Agriculture under Menachem Begin.

1970s, 80s, early 90s: As government minister, leads push to build dozens of Jewish colonies in West Bank and Gaza Strip, despite Palestinian and international protest. Colonies are one of most contentious issues in current peace negotiations. However, when Israel has to return the Sinai desert to Egypt in 1982, Sharon overrides resistance from Jewish settlers and has their homes bulldozed to rubble.

1982: As defence minister (1981-83), engineers Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. It is portrayed as quick, limited strike to drive Palestinian fighters from Israel’s northern border. However, Israeli troops advance to outskirts of Beirut and war escalates. Israeli-allied Christian militia kill hundreds of Palestinians at refugee camps in West Beirut, sparking international outrage. Sharon was forced to resign after an Israeli inquiry (the Kahane Report) found him indirectly responsible for the massacre that occurred at Sabra and Chatila. Fighting in Lebanon lasts 18 years, until Prime Minister Ehud Barak unilaterally withdraws Israeli troops in May 2000.

2000: Sharon visits third holiest mosque in Islam, Masjid Al Aqsa, in Occupied Jerusalem, on September 28 to emphasise Israel’s claim of sovereignty. Muslims are outraged, and widespread violence breaks out a day later. The bloodshed sparks a political crisis in Israel, leading to Barak’s resignation. Sharon wins a landslide victory over Barak in February 6, 2001 election for prime minister.

2003: Sharon wins early elections he was forced to call and remains prime minister. Later that year, Sharon begins construction of Israel’s separation barrier or fence along and in the West Bank.

February 8, 2005: At a summit in Sharm Al Shaikh, Egypt, Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announce a ceasefire.

August 17, 2005: Israel begins unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and part of the West Bank. Sharon had earlier reversed his course of decades of support for Jewish colony construction and expansion in the West Bank and Gaza. The last Israeli soldiers leave Gaza on September 12, 2005.

November 2005: Amid growing dissent within the Likud Party over the withdrawal from Gaza, Sharon leaves the party with many of his key allies to found Kadima. New elections are set for March 28, 2006.

December 18, 2005: Suffers mild stroke, leaves hospital two days later.

January 4, 2006: Suffers massive stroke and goes into a coma.