President Cory Aquino’s life

January 25, 1933: Corazon Cojuangco Aquino was born in Manila, the sixth among eight children of former congressman Jose Cojuangco and pharmacist Demetria Sumulong.

1946 to 1953: Cory finished high school and college in the United States; she majored in French and mathematics at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York City.

1954: She married Benigno Servillano “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. who would later become mayor of Concepcion in Tarlac, senator of the Philippines, and main political opponent of strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

1972 to 1980: Her husband Ninoy was imprisoned by Marcos during Martial Law.

1980: Ninoy Aquino was released from prison to undergo treatment for heart condition in the US. In the next three years, Mrs. Aquino lived in exile in Boston with Ninoy and their five children.

August 21, 1983: Ninoy Aquino was assassinated upon his return to Manila from US exile; Mrs. Aquino blames the Marcos government for the killing and returns to the country a few days later with their children.

August 31, 1983: Mrs. Aquino led the funeral procession for her husband, which drew a sympathetic crowd of more than two million people.

1983 to 1986: The widow in a yellow dress, Mrs. Aquino became the face of the middle class protesters in the anti-Marcos movement. The color symbolizes the thwarted homecoming of Ninoy, in reference to the song Tie a Yellow Ribbon.

November 1985: President Ferdinand Marcos calls for snap elections; Mrs. Aquino agrees to unite the opposition if she gets a million signatures endorsing her candidacy.

February 7, 1986: Presidential elections are held; Mrs. Aquino runs as the standard bearer of the opposition party. The Commission on Elections declared Marcos as the winner, but the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections tally showed Mrs. Aquino winning the fraud-tainted elections.

February 22, 1986: Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Armed Forces Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos called for Marcos’ resignation and holed up at Camp Aguinaldo. Mrs. Aquino and Jaime Cardinal Sin encouraged people to support the beleaguered officials, triggering the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled Marcos.

February 25, 1986: Mrs. Aquino was inaugurated as President of the Philippines by Supreme Court Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee, making her the first woman president in Asia. Marcos held his own inauguration at the Malacanang Palace, only to fly into exile later that night.

March 1986: Mrs. Aquino creates a Constitutional Commission to draft a new charter for the country, which was ratified in February 1987

July 1986: Pro-Marcos soldiers launch a coup attempt against the Aquino administration at the Manila Hotel, the first of seven failed military attempts to overthrow her presidency.

January 1987: TIME Magazine names Mrs. Aquino “Woman of the Year” for 1986

December 1989: Rebel soldiers stage the most serious coup attempt against the Aquino government, bombing Malacañang and mobilizing thousands of troops; US Air Force jets assist pro-government forces in suppressing the revolt.

June 30, 1992: Mrs. Aquino ends her presidency and turns over the reins of government to her handpicked successor, former defense secretary Fidel Ramos.

August 1999: TIME Magazine names Mrs. Aquino one of the 20 most influential Asians of the 20th century.

January 2001: Mrs. Aquino joins the widespread clamor for the resignation of popularly elected President Joseph Estrada, who was eventually deposed by EDSA II.

July 2005: Mrs. Aquino asks President Arroyo to “make the supreme sacrifice” and resign, following allegations of election cheating triggered by the release of wiretapped conversations between Arroyo and COMELEC official Virgilio Garcillano.

March 2008: The former president is diagnosed with colon cancer.

December 22, 2008: Mrs. Aquino apologizes to Estrada for supporting EDSA II, amid the corruption scandals hounding the Arroyo administration.

May 2009: Mrs. Aquino undergoes surgery to remove parts of her colon.

June 23, 2009: The ailing leader is admitted at the Makati Medical Center for loss of appetite; her family appeals for privacy and issues a call to prayer for her recovery.

August 1, 2009: Former president Aquino passes away at 3:18 a.m. of cardiorespiratory arrest with her children at her bedside.