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Born
Walt Disney is born in Chicago, Illinois. -
Kansas City, Missouri
Walt moves to Kansas City, Missouri with his family, where he develops a love for trains and gets a job with the company. -
Back to Chicago
Walt and his family move back to Chicago, where he attends McKinley High School and draws cartoons for the school newspaper. He also takes classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. -
High School Dropout
Walt drops out of High School at the age of 16 to join the Army. He is declined due to his age and instead joins the Red Cross where he serves as an ambulance driver in France for one year. -
Back to the U.S.
Walt moves back to the United States and gets a job at the Pesman-Rubin Art Studio, where he meets cartoonist Ub Iwerks. -
Laugh-O-Grams
Disney opens his own studio, which he names after Laugh-O-Grams, cartoons made from hand-drawn cel animation. -
Bankruptcy
Laugh-O-Grams goes bankrupt, and Walt moves to Hollywood along with his brother Roy and cartoonist Ub Iwerks to create another cartoon studio, eventually called Walt Disney Studios. -
Lillian Bounds
Walt hires an ink and paint artist named Lillian Bounds to work at the studio. -
Married
Walt and Lillian get married. -
Steamboat Willie
Steamboat Willie, Disney's first successful film featuring Mickey Mouse, opens at the Colony Theater in New York. -
Diane Disney Miller
Lillian gives birth to Diane Disney Miller, their first daughter. -
Sharon Disney Lund
Walt and Lillian adopt their second daughter, Sharon Disney Lund. -
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney's first full-length animated film, opens in Los Angeles. It produced about $1.5 million and won eight Oscars. -
Disneyland
Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California on what was previously an orange grove. -
Died
Walt Disney dies at the age of 65 due to lung cancer. -
Walt Disney World
Walt Disney World opens after Walt's brother, Roy, carries out the plan after his brother's death.