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Maya Angelou is born in Saint Louis, Missouri. Her birth name is Marguerite Johnson
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Angelou took on many roles other than author during her life. She dropped out of school during 1942 to become San Francisco's first African American female cable car conductor.
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Maya takes on the role of motherhood upon the birth of her first son, Guy, in 1943.
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Maya meets Vusumzi Make, a South African civil rights activist, and moves with him and her son to Cairo, Egypt.
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Maya moves to Ghana and works as an assistant administrator at the University of Ghana.
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Maya's autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" is published. (Note: Neither italics nor underlines were available to punctuate book title).
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President Jimmy Carter appoints Maya to the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year.
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In 1982, Angelou was named the first Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University.
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In 1984, Angelou meets the famous Oprah Winfrey and becomes her friend and mentor.
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Angelou writes and delivers a poem at Clinton's 1993 inauguration.
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Maya becomes the first recipient of the Hope for Peace and Justice Voice of Peace Award.
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President Barack Obama awards Maya Angelou with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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Maya dies peacefully. She was in poor health leading up to her death. She dies while still working on an autobiography.
