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Rochard Stallman is born in New York city
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Joins MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab as a programmer while still an undergraduate.
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First release of the Linux kernel by Linus Torvalds; GNU tools help form GNU/Linux.
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Stallman announces the GNU Project on net.unix-wizards and net.usoft newsgroups.
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Leaves MIT to work full-time on GNU, citing the rise of proprietary software.
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Founds the Free Software Foundation (FSF) to support the GNU Project.
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Releases GNU General Public License (GPL) v1, defining "copyleft" and software freedom.
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Awarded honorary doctorate from the University of Pavia, Italy
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First alpha release of GNU Hurd, GNU’s own microkernel project.
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GPL Version 3 is released, addressing DRM and patent issues.
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Biographical book Free as in Freedom by Sam Williams is published.
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Resigns from MIT and FSF after controversial statements surface.
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Stallman begins world lecture tours promoting free software ethics.
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Rejoins the FSF Board of Directors during LibrePlanet conference.
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Continues to speak on digital rights and free software, despite controversy.
