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Brigham Young is born in the town of Whitingham to a family of Vermont farmers.
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December 23, 1805: Joseph Smith was born. Joseph, Sr. and his sons hunt using various divination tools, when viewed at the bottom of a hat, are said to convey special sight. They move to New Hampshire, to help their children go to school.
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A local typhoid epidemic infects the Smith children. Joseph develops a leg infection, that will require him to use crutches and walk with a limp.
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The Smith family moves to Palmyra, New York because of their crop failure. Young leaves his family, who have settled in New York, and sets out on his own as a carpenter and handyman.
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God and Jesus appear to 14-year-old Joseph Smith in the "First Vision"
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Angel Moroni reveals location of golden plates to Joseph Smith. According to Moroni, the book describes the people who used to inhabit America and contains "the fullness of the everlasting Gospel."
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Smith and his father go to Pennsylvania to find a treasure. They find no treasure, but Smith falls in love with Emma Hale. They get married.
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Joseph Smith publishes the Book of Mormon, an English translation of the golden plates. $1.25 a peice at the time.
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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints founded. Smith became known as a prophet.
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Smith's headquarters was in Kirkland. A mob resentful of growing Mormon influence tars and feathers Smith in front of his Kirtland house.
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Joseph Smith published the Book of Commandments.
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Smith forms the Kirtland Safety Society Bank, but a national economic panic begins, which leads to his bank collapse.
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Non-Mormons attempt to prevent church members from voting, leading to a bloody fight. Stirred up by the governor's decree, an anti-Mormon mob massacres church members at Haun's Mill. Smith is charged with treason.
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Joseph Smith and his followers settle in Illinois, found the city of Nauvoo. He demands compensation for the Mormon losses in Missouri, from Martin Van Buren who was unable to do anything. Nauvoo becomes bolstered by an influx of Mormon converts from Europe.
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Joseph Smith runs for President of the United States. Smith introduces two new practices. First, the dead can be baptized. Second, there can be polygamy relationships. Joseph Smith goes on to have 25 wives.
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Joseph Smith is killed by a mob while awaiting trial for promoting a riot. A struggle for the leadership of the Mormon movement follows, in which the Saints are divided over whether to follow (a) the Council of the Twelve; (b) the surviving members of the Smith family; (c) the remaining members of the First Presidency; or (d) a variety of other potential leaders.
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The Nauvoo Temple is completed. a substantial number of polygamous marriages are solemnized.
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Brigham Young establishes the First Presidency. The valley of the Great Salt Lake is where the Mormons will settle.
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Mormon headquarters established at Salt Lake City, Utah.
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The doctrine of polygamy is made public outside the church, leading to widespread condemnation.
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Mormon missionaries establish a settlement in what will become Las Vegas. Settlements are also established in San Bernardino, California and in the Wind River area of Wyoming.
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Utah War between Mormons and federal forces.
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Mormon militia kill 120 immigrants on their way to California
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Joseph Smith III claims to receive a revelation as Prophet/President of a "New Organization" of the Latter Day Saint church.
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The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act criminalizes plural marriage in U.S. territories, but President Abraham Lincoln declines to enforce it.
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The Church of the Latter-day Saints has 109,894 members.
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Edmunds Act outlaws polygamy
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The Edmunds-Tucker Act disincorporates the Mormon Church and gives the federal government all church property about $50,000.
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Mormons formally abolish polygamy.
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The church threatens polygamists with excommunication and subsequently cooperates with federal authorities in prosecuting them.
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The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints changed its name to the Community of Christ
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"Reform Mormonism" founded
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Today there are nearly 13 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide. A variety of Mormon Fundamentalist groups continue to practice polygamy. The estimated number of fundamentalists is somewhere between 30,000 and 60,000.
