1880
1882: Jan. 14, van Loon is born in Rotterdam.
1900
1902-1905: arrives in the United States, attends Cornell University
1905-1907: serves as journalist for the Associated Press in Russia and Poland
1906: June, marries Eliza Ingersoll Bowditch
1907-1911: attends the University of Munich; receives his Ph.D. in history
1910
1907-1911: attends the University of Munich; receives his Ph.D. in history
1913: publishes "The Fall of the Dutch Republic"
1915-1917: October 1915-June 1917, lecturer in history at Cornell University
1915: publishes "The Rise of the Dutch Kingdom"
1917: publishes A "Short History of Discovery"
1919: January, becomes a United States citizen
1920
1920: publishes "Ancient Man: The Beginning of Civilizations"
1920: June, divorces Eliza Bowditch van Loon
1920: August, marries Eliza Helen (Jimmie) Criswell
1921-1922: September 1921- January 1922, teaches history at Antioch College
1921: publishes "The Story of Mankind"
1922: awarded Newbery Medal for Story of Mankind
1922-1923: May 1922- April 1923: columnist for the "Baltimore Sun"
1922-1925: contributes drawings and illustrations to "The Survey"
1923: publishes "The Story of the Bible"
1926-1928: contributes illustrations and drawings to "The Nation"
1927: publishes "The Story of America"
1927: October, divorces Jimmie van Loon; marries Francis Goodrich
1928: publishes "Life and Times of Peter Stuyvesant"
1928: publishes "Man the Miracle Maker"
1929: October divorces Francis van Loon
1930
1930: publishes "R. v. R.: The Life and Times of Rembrandt van Rijn"
1930: meets and begins association with Albert Einstein
1932: presents a weekly radio program on history for WEVD in New York; leads to the creation of the University of the Air, for which van Loon is named Dean.
1932: publishes "Van Loon’s Geography: The Story of the World We Live In"
1932: meets and begins association with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
1934-1935: November 1934-April 1935, writes “Meet the Commentator” column for King Feature Syndicate
1935: meets and begins association with Thomas Mann
1935: May-December, delivers a twice-weekly radio program for NBC
1936: publishes "The Songs We Sing" (with Grace Castagnetta)
1937: publishes "The Arts"
1937: November, elected president of the Authors’ Guild
1938: publishes "How to Look at Pictures: A Short History of Painting"
1938: publishes "Our Battle"
1940
1940: publishes "The Life and Times of Johann Sebastian Bach"
1940: Organizes the Dutch Relief Committee; named chairman of the Queen Wilhelmina Fund
1942: publishes "The Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, With a Short Life of the Author by Hendrik Willem van Loon of Rotterdam Who Also Illustrated the Book"
1942: publishes "Van Loon’s Lives"
1942: knighted by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
1944: March 11, van Loon dies in Old Greenwich, Connecticut