| 1819 | 8 February, Ruskin born in London, the son of John James Ruskin and Margaret Ruskin (nee Cox) |
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| 1823 | The family moves to Herne Hill, south of London |
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| 1825 | First continental tour (Paris, Brussels, Waterloo) |
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| 1826 | Begins writing poetry |
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| 1832 | Receives Samuel Rogers' Italy as a birthday present. Illustrated with vignettes by Turner, the book begins the central enthusiasm of Ruskin's life |
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| 1833 | Continental tour includes first visit to Switzerland, notably to the Vale of Chamonix, one of 'my two bournes of earth' |
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| 1834 | Begins life-long study of Alpine geology. Two essays on geology — his first published works — appear in the Magazine of Natural History |
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| 1835 | Continental tour includes first visit to his other bourne of earth, Italy, and, more specifically, Venice |
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| 1836 | Falls sentimentally in love with Adele Domecq, daughter of his father's French partner. Writes essay defending Turner against his critics in the reviews but does not publish it. Goes up to Christ Church, Oxford |
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| 1837 | Publishes The Poetry of Architecture (1837-8) in the Architectural Magazine |
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| 1839 | Meets Turner. Suffers from depression and suspected consumption and goes on long tour with parents to recover health. First visit to Rome |
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| 1841 | Returns to England and meets distant cousin, Euphemia ('Effie') Gray. Writes The King o f the Golden River for her |
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| 1842 | Returns to Oxford and takes B.A. Family moves to Denmark Hill, London. Ruskin begins Modern Painters |
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| 1843 | Modern Painters I published anonymously ('by a Graduate of Oxford') |
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| 1845 | First continental tour without parents. Realizes the greatness of early Italian painting and discovers Tintoretto |
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| 1846 | Publishes Modern Painters II |
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| 1848 | Marries Effie Gray. They tour Normandy together, Ruskin studying Gothic architecture. He begins The Seven Lamps of Architecture |
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| 1849 | Long stay in Venice (1849-50); begins systematic study of Venetian architecture. Publishes The Seven Lamps of Architecture . Embarks on The Stones of Venice |
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| 1851 | Meets Carlyle. Publishes The Stones of Venice I. Sees first Pre-Raphaelite pictures at the Royal Academy and writes letter to The Times defending them against their critics. Returns to Venice for second long stay (1851-2). Turner dies; Ruskin is named executor in his will |
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| 1852 | Social criticism begins with three letters on social and economic problems intended for publication in The Times, but John James suppresses them |
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| 1853 | The Stones of Venice II and III published. Spends summer with Effie and J. E. Millais at Glenfinlas. Effie and Millais fall in love. Ruskin delivers his first lectures in Edinburgh (Lectures on Architecture and Painting, published 1854) |
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| 1854 | Marriage annulled on grounds of non-consummation. Ruskin begins lecturing at the Working Men's College. Friendship with Rossetti begins |
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| 1855 | Begins working with Benjamin Woodward on designs for the new Museum of Natural History in Oxford; Ruskin takes charge of the sculptural schemes. Effie marries Millais. Ruskin begins the series of Academy Notes, an annual commentary on the Royal Academy exhibitions |
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| 1856 | Publishes Modern Painters 111 and IV and The Harbours of England |
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| 1857 | Publishes The Elements of Drawing. Lectures on The Political Economy of Art in Manchester. Begins sorting and cataloguing the drawings in the Turner bequest (1857-8) |
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| 1858 | Lectures on 'The Work of Iron'. Meets the nine-year-old Rose La Touche, with whom he is soon to fall in love. In Turin experiences an 'unconversion' which turns him against his rigid Protestantism and undermines his belief in Christianity |
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| 1859 | Publishes The Two Paths and The Elements of Perspective.Meets Margaret Bell, the headmistress of a progressive girls' school in Cheshire, Winnington Hall; is affected by her ideas and becomes a regular visitor to the school (until 1868) |
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| 1860 | Publishes Modern Painters V and, at Chamonix, begins Unto this Last. The latter serialized in the Cornhill Magazine, but hostile public reaction halts publication prematurely |
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| 1862 | Unto this Last appears in book form |
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| 1863 | Munera Pulveris serialized in Fraser's Magazine |
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| 1864 | Death of John James Ruskin. Ruskin's cousin Joan Agnew comes to live at Denmark Hill and takes care of Ruskin and his mother for the rest of their lives. The lectures 'Traffic' and 'Of Kings' Treasuries' delivered |
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| 1865 | Sesame and Lilies published. Joins Carlyle in forming a Defence and Aid Fund in support of Governor Eyre, who has ruthlessly suppressed an insurrection in Jamaica and is now in danger of impeachment |
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| 1866 | Proposes marriage to Rose La Touche, but she postpones her decision. Publishes The Ethics of the Dust, a dialogue on crystallography written for the girls at Winnington, and The Crown of Wild Olive |
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| 1867 | Publishes Time and Tide, a book of letters on 'the Laws of Work' addressed to Thomas Dixon, a cork-cutter of Sunderland |
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| 1869 | Publishes The Queen of the Air, lectures on classical mythology. Elected first Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford |
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| 1870 | First series of Slade Lectures on Art |
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| 1871 | Begins publishing Fors Clavigera in monthly instalments. Founds the St George's Fund for the renewal of England and undertakes to pay a tithe of his income to it. Endows drawing mastership at Oxford and begins the Ruskin Art Collection there. Purchases Brantwood on Coniston Water, which now becomes his main residence. Begins series of social experiments, notably a housing scheme in Marylebone run by Octavia Hill. Margaret Ruskin dies, ninety years old |
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| 1872 | Publishes Aratra Pentelici (on sculpture) and The Eagle's Nest (on science and art). Rose La Touche seriously ill both physically and mentally; she finally rejects Ruskin's proposal |
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| 1873 | Publishes Love's Meinie (1873-81) and Ariadne Florentina. The former, a study of birds, is the first of three books on natural history |
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| 1874 | Publishes Val d'Arno, lectures on Tuscan sculpture. In Assisi to study the Giotto frescoes, Ruskin recovers his Christian faith while living in a sacristan's cell |
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| 1875 | Publishes first instalments of Mornings in Florence (1875-7) and the other two books on natural history, Proserpina and Deucalion. Founds the Sheffield Museum, Walkley. Rose La Touche dies insane. Ruskin gives only one series of lectures at Oxford and is excused his duties till 1877 |
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| 1876 | Begins editing his Bibliotheca Pastorum (1876-85): the first volume is the Economist of Xenophon. In Venice, meets Count Alvise Zorzi; together they campaign to save St Mark's from proposed 'restorations'. A series of hallucinations in Venice at Christmas-time anticipates mental collapse |
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| 1877 | Begins publishing St Mark's Rest (1877-84), on Venice. In Fors Clavigera accuses Whistler of asking 'two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face'; Whistler sues him for libel |
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| 1878 | First mental breakdown. Suspends publication of Fors Clavigera. Fined a farthing damages for libelling Whistler and, in protest, resigns professorship |
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| 1880 | Resumes publication of Fors Clavigera, which continues intermittently until 1884. Begins publishing The Bible of Amiens (1880-85) and Fiction, Fair and Foul (1880-81) |
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| 1881 | Carlyle dies |
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| 1882 | Rossetti dies |
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| 1883 | Resumes Slade professorship after a year without mental attacks |
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| 1884 | Publishes The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century, a visionary account of the disturbance of natural order in modern times |
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| 1885 | Resigns professorship in protest against vivisection in the University of Oxford. Begins publishing his autobiography, Praeterita (1885-9) |
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| 1888 | Last continental tour |
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| 1889 | Praeterita concluded prematurely after his last and most severe attack of madness. He survives another ten years, incapacitated, living in seclusion and virtual silence |
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| 1900 | Dies at Brantwood of influenza, 20 January. Buried in Coniston churchyard |
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