Time Line

Cultural Events	U2’s Career
1798: Irish peasants rise up against British rule in the United Irishmen Rebellion.
January 1, 1801: Ireland and Great Britain merge into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1840s: The Great Famine in Ireland.
1914–1920: The Home Rule Act allows for the creation of Northern Ireland and, eventually, the Republic of Ireland.
November 21, 1920: Thirty-one people are killed in Dublin on a day that becomes known as the first Bloody Sunday.
August 6 and 8, 1945: The United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
1947: The Cold War begins and lasts until 1991.
1948: South Africa ushers in a new system of government called “apartheid.” Mohandas Gandhi is assassinated in New Delhi, India.
	August 19, 1950: Bob Hewson (Catholic) and Iris Rankin (Protestant) are married at St. John the Baptist Church of Ireland in Drumcondra, Dublin, in a ceremony that was considered scandalous.
	March 13, 1960: Adam Clayton is born in Chinnor, Oxfordshire, England.
	May 10, 1960: Paul “Bono” Hewson is born in Dublin, Ireland.
January 20, 1961: John F. Kennedy becomes president of the United States.	August 8, 1961: David “Edge” Evans is born in East London, England.
August 1961: Construction begins on the Berlin Wall, dividing East and West Berlin.	October 31, 1961: Larry Mullen, Jr. is born in Dublin, Ireland.
August 5, 1962: Nelson Mandela is arrested in South Africa and sentenced to life in prison.
1968: The Troubles, thirty years of conflict in Northern Ireland and areas of the Republic, begin and last until 1998.
April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated.
July 21, 1969: Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to walk on the Moon.
1972: Mount Temple Comprehensive School is established in Dublin.
January 30, 1972: Thirteen people are killed by British soldiers in Derry, Northern Ireland, on a day that becomes known as the second Bloody Sunday.
	1973: Larry’s sister dies at nine years old.
1974–1977: Disco rises to become mainstream.
May 17, 1974: A series of bombs explode in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland, killing thirty-three civilians.	September 1974: Iris Hewson, Bono’s mother, suffers a brain aneurysm at the graveside of her own father and dies four days later.
August 9, 1974: Richard Nixon resigns as president of the United States.
April 23, 1976: The Ramones release a self-titled debut album.	1976: Larry’s mother is killed in a car accident. Bono and a group of kids living around Cedarwood Road form a club they call Lypton Village.
	September 25, 1976: Seven boys gather in Larry’s home in response to a note he posted on a Mount Temple bulletin board about forming a band.
	Fall 1976: Larry, Adam, Bono, Edge, and Edge’s brother, Dik, form a band called Feedback and enter a talent contest at Mount Temple (Dik can’t play at the talent show because he is too old).
January 14, 1977: David Bowie releases Low, recorded at Hansa Studio in collaboration with Brian Eno.	April 11, 1977: Feedback plays its first full concert at St. Fintan’s School in Dublin, later changing its name to the Hype.
January 20, 1977: Jimmy Carter becomes president of the United States.	October 21, 1977: The Hype attend a concert by the Clash at Trinity College in Dublin.
April 8, 1977: The Clash releases a self-titled debut album.
June 1977: The music magazine Hot Press is founded in Dublin. Apple introduces the Apple II home computer.
October 14, 1977: David Bowie releases Heroes, recorded at Hansa Studio in collaboration with Brian Eno.
October 28, 1977: The Sex Pistols release the controversial Never Mind the Bullocks, a breakthrough for punk.
	Spring 1978:The band has its first TV performances as the Hype for RTÉ’s Our Times and a little later as U2 for RTÉ’s Youngline.
	March 1978: The Hype changes its name to U2, wins a talent contest in Limerick, and says farewell to Dik.
	May 1978: The band meets Paul McGuinness, who eventually becomes U2’s manager.
	Mid-1978: Bono, Edge, and Larry join Shalom, a Christian commune.
	August 1978: U2 plays for two of its earliest charity gigs: the Contraception Action Campaign and Rock against Sexism.
November 4, 1979: Sixty-three Americans are taken hostage in Iran and held for fourteen months.	Summer 1979: U2 plays regularly at Dublin’s Dandelion Market.
	September 1979: U2’s first studio production, U2-3, is released in Ireland.
December 8, 1980: John Lennon is assassinated.	March 23, 1980: U2 secures a four-year, four-album deal with Island Records.
December 12, 1980: The Clash releases its fourth album, Sandinista! an eclectic three-record set.	May 23, 1980: “11 O’Clock Tick Tock” debuts as the band’s first international single.
	October 20, 1980: Boy, U2’s first full album, debuts.
January 20, 1981: Ronald Reagan enters his first of two terms as president of the United States.	Summer 1981: Larry, then Bono, then Edge leaves Shalom.
May 11, 1981: Bob Marley dies of skin cancer.	October 12, 1981: October, U2’s second album, is released.
August 1, 1981: MTV debuts in America.	November 1981: U2 releases its first fan club magazine.
August 12, 1981: IBM releases its first PC.	August 21, 1982: Bono and Alison Stewart are married in Dublin.
November 3, 1982: Michael Jackson releases Thriller.
	February 28, 1983: War, U2’s third album, is released.
	May 21, 1983: U2 tours the Chicago Peace Museum and sees The Unforgettable Fire exhibit.
	June 5, 1983: At Red Rocks Amphitheatre, U2 films its first live concert.
March 27, 1984: Run-DMC releases its self-titled debut album, a breakthrough for hip-hop.	October 1, 1984: The Unforgettable Fire, U2’s fourth album, is released.
October 12, 1984: Five people die when the IRA attempts an assassination of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.	November 1984: Bono and Adam participate in Band Aid and record “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
October 16, 1984: Bishop Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his opposition to apartheid.	December 3, 1984: U2 performs for Amnesty International’s “Stop Torture Week” fund-raiser.
January 20, 1985: Ronald Reagan enters his second of two terms as president of the United States.	March 1985: Rolling Stone features U2 on its cover as “Our Choice: Band of the ’80s.”
February 28, 1885: The IRA launches a mortar attack on a police station in Newry, Northern Ireland.	July 13, 1985: U2 gives a career-defining performance at Live Aid.
March 7, 1985: The USA for Africa project releases “We Are the World.”	September–October 1985: Bono and Ali Hewson volunteer in Ethiopia at a refugee camp.
	December 7, 1985: Bono appears on the release of Sun City, a collaborative effort protesting South African apartheid.
1986: Mikhail Gorbachev institutes glasnost in an effort to reform the USSR.	May 17, 1986: U2 plays at Self Aid benefit in Dublin, highlighting chronic unemployment.
January 28, 1986: The space shuttle Challenger explodes just after liftoff.	July 1986: Bono and Ali visit Nicaragua and El Salvador.
April 15, 1986: The United States bombs Libya.	September 1986: Edge’s solo album, Captive, is released.
April 26, 1986: Chernobyl is the site of the worst nuclear power plant accident in history.	November 1986: U2 releases the first issue of Propaganda, a new fan club magazine.
1987: In the United States, the Iran-Contra scandal dominates the evening news.	March 9, 1987: The Joshua Tree, U2’s fifth album, is released.
November 8, 1987: The IRA bombs a Remembrance Day parade in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.	April 7, 1987: U2 appears on the cover of Time magazine as “Rock’s Hottest Ticket.”
	April 30, 1987: U2’s first time appearing as a headline act in a US stadium.
	September 20, 1987: U2’s first use of a video screen in a stadium.
	November 1, 1987: U2 disguises itself as a country western band and opens its own show as the Dalton Brothers.
	November–December 1987: U2 records various concerts and the footage is used for the film Rattle and Hum.
	March 2, 1988: U2 wins its first two Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for The Joshua Tree.
	October 1988: Rattle and Hum, U2’s sixth album, and its companion theatrical film are released.
January 20, 1989: George H. W. Bush becomes president of the United States.	December 30 and 31, 1989: U2 plays Dublin’s Point Depot, ushering in the new decade, and Bono talks about going away to “dream it all up again.”
April–June 1989: Students protest in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
July 20, 1989: The first house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi begins.
November 1989: Border crossings on the Berlin Wall are opened.
February 1990: Nelson Mandela is released from a South African prison.	October 3, 1990: U2 arrives in West Berlin to begin recording at the famous Hansa Studios.
April 10, 1990: Public Enemy releases Fear of a Black Planet, reflecting the mainstream culture of hip-hop.
June 1990: Demolition of the Berlin Wall begins.
October 3, 1990: Unification of East and West Germany is complete.
January–February 1991: A US-led coalition attacks Iraqi forces in Operation Desert Storm.	November 19, 1991: Achtung Baby, U2’s seventh album is released.
March 1991: The Yugoslav Wars begin with the Croatian War of Independence, initiating the breakup of Yugoslavia.
June 1991: The Slovenian Independence War begins.
July 1991: Boris Yeltsin resigns as the president of Russia.
October 14, 1991: Aung San Suu Kyi wins the Nobel Peace Prize while remaining under house arrest in Myanmar (Burma).
April 1992: The Bosnian War begins.	June 20, 1992: U2 participates in a Greenpeace protest of the Sellafield nuclear power plant.
April–May 1992: Los Angeles explodes in riots when a jury acquits four police officers after the beating of Rodney King.
January 20, 1993: Bill Clinton enters his first of two terms as president of the United States.	1993: U2 partners with Bill Carter to satellite link the bombed-out city of Sarajevo during concerts.
December 10, 1993: Nelson Mandela and F. W. de Klerk receive the Nobel Peace Prize.	February 24, 1993: U2 wins a Grammy Award for Achtung Baby.
	July 5, 1993: Zooropa, U2’s eighth album, is released.
1994: Apartheid officially ends in South Africa, and Nelson Mandela is elected as the country’s first black president.	March 1, 1994: U2 wins a Grammy Award for Zooropa.
	June 5, 1995: U2 releases the single, “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me,” which is written for the movie Batman Forever.
	November 7, 1995: The release of “GoldenEye,” sung by Tina Turner and written by Bono and Edge.
	May 14, 1996: The release of “Theme from Mission: Impossible,” recorded by Larry and Adam.
January 20, 1997: Bill Clinton enters his second of two terms as president of the United States.	March 3, 1997: Pop, U2’s ninth album, is released.
November 22, 1997: Michael Hutchence, lead singer for INXS, commits suicide.	September 3, 1997: U2 keeps a promise made in 1993 and plays Sarajevo.
March 1998: The Kosovo War begins.	May 19, 1998: U2 plays at the Yes Campaign in Belfast in support of the Good Friday Agreement.
August 7, 1998: US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya are bombed by al-Qaeda.
December 2, 1998: The Good Friday Agreement is enacted, officially ending the Troubles.
	1999: Bono works aggressively on behalf of Jubilee 2000.
	September 23, 1999: Bono meets with Pope John Paul II to discuss Third World debt relief, and exchanges a pair of his sunglasses for a rosary.
October 12, 2000: The USS Cole is bombed by al-Qaeda while harboring in a Yemeni port.	February 2000: The Million Dollar Hotel, a film Bono helped write and produce, is released.
	March 2000: The soundtrack from The Million Dollar Hotel is released, featuring songs by U2 and friends.
	July 2000: U2.com, the band’s first official website, is launched.
	October 30, 2000: All That You Can’t Leave Behind, U2’s tenth album, is released.
January 20, 2001: George W. Bush becomes president of the United States.	February 21, 2001: U2 wins two Grammy Awards for “Beautiful Day.”
September 11, 2001: Using commercial airliners in four separate attacks, terrorists bring down the two World Trade Center buildings, damage the Pentagon, and crash an airplane in a Pennsylvania field.	October 2001: U2 plays an emotional set of three concerts at Madison Square Garden, just three miles away from the World Trade Center and six weeks after the attacks.
	January 2002: Bono and Bobby Shriver launch DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa).
	February 3, 2002: U2 reproduces its Madison Square Garden tribute to 9/11 victims during halftime at the Super Bowl.
	February 27, 2002: U2 wins a Grammy Award for All That You Can’t Leave Behind.
2003: President George W. Bush establishes the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
March 20, 2003: The Iraq War begins as the United States leads a coalition of forces to topple Saddam Hussein.
February 2004: Facebook launches.	May 16, 2004: Bono helps launch ONE, an advocacy organization that seeks the elimination of extreme poverty, especially in Africa.
	October–November 2004: Apple features U2’s “Vertigo” in its iPod commercial, introduces the U2 Special Edition iPod, and releases a digital box set called The Complete U2.
	November 22, 2004: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, U2’s eleventh album, is released.
August 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina causes massive flooding and catastrophic damage in New Orleans, resulting in over 1,000 deaths.	2005: Bono and Ali found Edun, a global fashion brand that seeks to encourage trade in Africa.
	February 13, 2005: U2 wins three Grammy Awards for “Vertigo.”
	March 14, 2005: U2 is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
	November 2005: Edge cofounds and launches Music Rising.
	December 2005: Bono is named “Person of the Year” by Time magazine, along with Bill and Melinda Gates.
July 2006: Twitter launches.	2006: U2 faces heavy criticism for moving a portion of its business to the Netherlands to avoid taxes in Ireland.
	January 26, 2006: Bono and Bobby Shriver launch (RED), a new business model to generate revenue in the fight against AIDS in Africa.
	February 2, 2006: Bono gives the keynote address at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC.
	February 8, 2006: U2 wins a Grammy Award for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
	September 25, 2006: U2 performs a cover of the Skids’ “The Saints Are Coming” with Green Day during a pregame show at the reopening of the Louisiana Superdome after Hurricane Katrina.
June 2007: Apple releases the iPhone.
	January 23, 2008: The film U2 3D is released, featuring the Vertigo tour in the first live-action 3D concert movie.
January 20, 2009: Barack Obama enters his first of two terms as president of the United States.	January 18, 2009: U2 performs for the inauguration of Barack Obama.
June 2009: Hundreds of thousands of Iranians are met with violence by government forces as they protest election results in a period of civil unrest known as the Green Movement.	February 27, 2009: No Line on the Horizon, U2’s twelfth album, is released.
	September 15, 2009: Blackberry announces a revolutionary new “U2 Mobile Album” meant to enhance the 360° tour experience.
	October 25, 2009: U2 films U2: 360° while performing at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and broadcasts the concert live on YouTube.
November 13, 2010: Aung San Suu Kyi is released from fifteen years of house arrest.	May 21, 2010: Bono has emergency back surgery, postponing the 360° tour.
January 8, 2011: Congresswoman Gabby Giffords survives an assassination attempt in Tucson, Arizona.	June 14, 2011: Bono and Edge’s Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark officially opens on Broadway.
May 16, 2011: Mark Kelly, husband of Gabby Giffords, commands the final flight of the space shuttle Endeavour, from which he records a greeting that is used during the introduction to U2’s “Beautiful Day” in concert.
February 26, 2012: Treyvon Martin, an African American teen living in Miami, is fatally shot by George Zimmerman.	March 2012: Adam helps launch Walk in My Shoes, an initiative to create awareness about mental illness.
2013: The #BlackLivesMatter movement coalesces around the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Treyvon Martin.	November 29, 2013: U2 releases “Ordinary Love,” a song honoring Nelson Mandela and written for the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
January 20, 2013: Barack Obama enters his second of two terms as president of the United States.
July 17, 2014: Eric Garner, an African American male, dies after a New York City police officer detains him with a chokehold and while repeating the words, “I can’t breathe.”	February 2, 2014: U2 releases “Invisible,” which debuts during the Super Bowl and generates funds for (RED).
August 9, 2014: Michael Brown, an African American teen living in Ferguson, Missouri, is shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer.	September 9, 2014: Songs of Innocence, U2’s thirteenth album, is released digitally at an Apple press conference.
	November 16, 2014: Bono is involved in a high-impact bicycle accident that leaves him with numerous serious injuries.
February 2015: The streaming app Meerkat is released.	February 21, 2015: Longtime friend and spiritual advisor to the band Jack Heaslip passes away.
March 2015: The streaming app Periscope is released.	May 27, 2015: Dennis Sheehan, U2’s first and only tour manager, dies from a heart attack while on tour.
April 4, 2015: Walter Scott, an African American male, is fatally shot by Michael Slager, a white North Charleston police officer.	September 20, 2015: For the first time ever, U2 cancels a concert (Stockholm) due to a security breach.
April 12, 2015: Freddie Gray, an African American male, dies from injuries while in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department.	October 26, 2015: U2’s “Song for Someone” is released via the Vrse app as a state-of-the-art, interactive, 360-degree virtual reality video.
May 22, 2015: Ireland becomes the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by a popular vote.	November 13, 2015: U2 cancels its Paris concert as a series of deadly terrorist attacks happen throughout the city.
Summer 2015: The influx of Syrian, Afghan, and Iraqi refugees arriving in Greece reaches a critical level, creating tension and civil unrest throughout Europe.	December 7, 2015: U2 returns to Paris for a rescheduled show—the last of its 2015 I+E tour—a concert that is broadcast later that day on HBO.
September 2, 2015: The body of three-year-old Alan (Aylan) Kurdi, a Kurdish refugee, washes up on a Mediterranean beach in Turkey. The photograph captures the attention of the world and highlights the European crisis.
	April 12, 2016: Bono testifies before a US Senate subcommittee about foreign aid, Africa, and the international refugee crisis.