| 1805 December 23 | | Born in Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, to Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack.
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| 1816 | Age 11 | Joseph Smith Sr. family moved to Palmyra, N.Y., and a few years later to a farm in nearby Manchester, N.Y.
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| 1820 Spring | Age 14 | Received the First Vision in answer to his prayer concerning which church to join. Joseph was visited by the Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove in upstate New York.
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| 1823 September 21–22 | Age 17 | Visited five times by the resurrected Moroni who revealed to Joseph the existence of ancient gold plates (from which the Book of Mormon was translated) and instructed him on his role in restoring the gospel.
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| 1827 January 18 | Age 21 | Married Emma Hale in South Bainbridge, N.Y.
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| 1827 September 22 | Age 21 | Received the gold plates from the angel Moroni at the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York. Also received the Urim and Thummim, which was used in translating the Book of Mormon.
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| 1828 February | Age 22 | Martin Harris took a transcript and partial translation of the Book of Mormon to Professor Charles Anthon of Columbia College and to Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell of New York. In June, Harris borrowed and lost 116 manuscript pages.
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| 1829 May 15 | Age 23 | John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic Priesthood on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Joseph and Oliver baptized one another, as instructed.
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| 1829 May or June | Age 23 | Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the Melchizedek Priesthood from Peter, James, and John near the Susquehanna River between Harmony, Pennsylvania, and Colesville, New York.
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| 1829 June | Age 23 | Translation of the Book of Mormon completed. The Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses were shown the gold plates.
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| 1830 March 26 | Age 24 | First printed copies of the Book of Mormon available in Palmyra, New York (5,000 copies printed by E.B. Grandin).
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| 1830 April 6 | Age 24 | Organization of the Church in Fayette, New York.
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| 1830 June | Age 24 | Arrested on false charges of disorderly conduct but was acquitted in a trial at South Bainbridge, N.Y.
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| 1830 September–October | Age 24 | First missionaries called to preach to the Native Americans.
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| 1830 December–1831 January | Age 25 | The Lord commanded the Saints to gather to Ohio.
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| 1831 July 20 | Age 25 | Site for the city of Zion (the New Jerusalem) in Independence, Missouri, revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
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| 1832 January 25 | Age 26 | Sustained president of the high priesthood at a conference at Amherst, Ohio.
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| 1833 March 18 | Age 27 | First Presidency organized with Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams set apart as counselors.
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| 1833 November 7 | Age 27 | Saints began fleeing from mobs in Jackson County, Missouri, across the Missouri River and into Clay County, Missouri.
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| 1833 December 18 | Age 27 | Gave the first patriarchal blessings in this dispensation to his parents, three of his brothers, and Oliver Cowdery.
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| 1834 February 17 | Age 28 | First stake organized in Kirtland, Ohio, with Joseph Smith as stake president.
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| 1834 May 8 | Age 28 | Left New Portage, Ohio, for Missouri as the leader of Zion's Camp to bring relief to Saints expelled from Jackson County.
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| 1835 February 14 | Age 29 | Quorum of the Twelve Apostles organized in Kirtland, Ohio.
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| 1835 February 28 | Age 29 | First Quorum of the Seventy organized in Kirtland, Ohio.
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| 1835 August 17 | Age 29 | Doctrine and Covenants accepted as a standard work of the Church in Kirtland, Ohio.
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| 1836 March 27 | Age 30 | Kirtland Temple dedicated.
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| 1836 April 3 | Age 30 | Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple. Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared and conveyed priesthood keys.
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| 1838 April 26 | Age 32 | Name of the Church—-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—given by revelation.
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| 1838 December 1–1839 April 16 | Age 33 | Imprisoned with others at Liberty Jail in Liberty, Missouri.
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| 1839 April 16 | Age 33 | Allowed to escape while being transferred from Daviess County to Boone County (Missouri) under a change of venue in their case.
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| 1839 October 29 | Age 33 | Left for Washington, D. C., to seek redress from the President of the United States for wrongs suffered by the Saints in Missouri.
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| 1841 January 19 | Age 35 | Revelation to build Nauvoo Temple received. Baptism for the dead was introduced as a temple ordinance.
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| 1842 March 1 | Age 36 | Articles of Faith first published in the Times and Seasons.
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| 1842 March 17 | Age 36 | Female Relief Society of Nauvoo organized.
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| 1842 May 4 | Age 36 | First full temple endowments received in Nauvoo, Illinois.
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| 1844 January 29 | Age 38 | Nominated as a candidate for president of the United States.
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| 1844 June 22 | Age 38 | Joseph and Hyrum Smith crossed the Mississippi River to flee to the Great Basin. Illinois Governor Thomas Ford promised the Prophet safety, and so, at the pleadings of others, the pair returned to Nauvoo and turned themselves over to government agents.
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| 1844 June 27 | Age 38 | Joseph and Hyrum Smith martyred at Carthage Jail in Carthage, Illinois.
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