Born November 4 in St. Joseph, Missouri to Dr. Walter Leland Cronkite Sr., a dentist, and Helena Lena Fritsch, a housewife.
Joins United Press news service as a correspondent after attending the University of Texas and working as a reporter for the HOUSTON PRESS.
Covers the battle of the North Atlantic.
Lands with the Allied troops in North Africa and takes part in the Normandy assaults. Drops with the 101st Airborne Division in Holland as part of the Third Army at the Battle of the Bulge.
Spends the post-war years establishing United Press bureaus in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Chief correspondent for the war trials of Goering and Hess at Nuremberg and bureau chief in Moscow for two years.
After broadcasting events in Washington for a group of Midwestern radio stations, joins CBS NEWS. Helps develop news department of CBS's new television station in Washington, D.C.
Heads coverage of the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions in the first nationally televised presidential campaign. Accompanies Harry S. Truman on a tour of the White House.
Anchors historical series, YOU ARE THERE, which runs for four years.
Co-host for THE MORNING SHOW on CBS.
Anchors the Democratic and Republican conventions. Begins coverage of American space program. Narrates the series, AIR POWER, which runs for two years.
Narrates and hosts the documentary series, THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, and its spin-off, THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, which runs until 1970.
Covers the first visit of Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev to the United States. President of Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, 1959-1960.
Anchors the Democratic and Republican conventions.
Covers the first American -manned space flight, of Alan B. Shepard Jr.; subsequently covers every manned flight.
Begins anchoring CBS EVENING NEWS. Chief correspondent for CBS REPORTS documentary, "Sabotage in South Africa."
CBS EVENING NEWS expands to a half-hour broadcast. Announces the assassination of President Kennedy live. Anchor for the first live transatlantic broadcast, in which General Dwight D. Eisenhower, former British Prime Minister Anthony Eden, and France's Jean Monett participate.
Anchors CBS REPORTS documentary, "Eisenhower Revisits Normandy, 1964," which includes an interview with the ex-president.
After visitsing Vietnam as CBS chief correspondent, Cronkite's criticism helps change the public opinion. "If I've lost Cronkite," President Lyndon Johnson says afterward, "I've lost middle America."
While anchoring the Democratic convention, criticizes the Chicago police after they push correspondent Dan Rather. Anchors the Republican convention.
Reports on Apollo moon landing, for which he receives an Emmy Award. Defends the freedom of the press following attempts by the Nixon administration to interfere with CBS NEWS reports.
Publishes his first book, EYE ON THE WORLD, an illustrated compendium of 1970. Receives another Emmy Award for his coverage of space flights Apollo 13 and 14.
Opens CBS EVENING NEWS with a 14-minute segment on Watergate, bringing the issue to the wider public. Anchors the Democratic and Republican conventions. One of the correspondents to accompany President Nixon to China and the Soviet Union.
Voted "The Most Trusted Man in America" in a public opinion survey.
Anchors CBS NEWS SPECIAL REPORT, "Space: A Report to the Stockholders," on the costs of the space program.
Anchors the Democratic and Republican conventions. Reports on the bicentennial celebrations, including the "Tall Ships" entering New York Harbor.
Interviews Anwar el-Sadat and Menachem Begin on CBS EVENING NEWS, which is considered an important diplomatic step in clearing barriers for an Egyptian-Israeli summit.
Anchors the Democratic and Republican conventions.
Steps down as anchor of CBS EVENING NEWS. Hosts and reports the science series UNIVERSE. Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Carter.
Anchors CBS NEWS SPECIAL REPORTS, "The Great Nuclear Arms Debate." Conceives news series for children, WHY IN THE WORLD, which airs on PBS. Recipient of National Association of Broadcaster's Distinguished Service Award. Publishes SOUTH BY SOUTHEAST.
Narrates the spoken word album "The Way It Was: The Sixties."
Correspondent at Democratic and Republican conventions. Returns to anchor position on CBS EVENING NEWS in June to commemorate the 40th anniversary of D-Day. Named Adjunct Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.
Inducted to the Television Hall of Fame. Appointed first Josephine B. and Newton Minow Visiting Professor in the communications department at Northwestern University.
Anchors the series, WALTER CRONKITE AT LARGE. Host of the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Day broadcast.
Signs a three-year deal with Discovery Communications, parent company of the Discovery Channel and the Learning Channel, to anchor, executive produce, and executive edit various projects.
Co-founds The Cronkite Ward Company, which produces more than 100 award-winning documentary hours for The Discovery Channel, PBS, and other networks.
Broadway debut, providing voice-over for "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying."
Completes autobiography, A REPORTER'S LIFE.
Successfully undergoes heart bypass surgery.
Anchors the second space flight by John Glenn, as he had Glenn's first in 1962.
Accepts the 1999 Norman Cousins Global Governance Award at the United Nations.
Appears in the Robert Greenwald film OUTFOXED, where he offers commentary on the alleged unethical and overtly political practices at the FOX News Channel.
His wife of almost 65 years, the former Betsy Maxwell, dies at the age of 89.
Becomes the first non-astronaut to receive NASA's Ambassador of Exploration Award.
