| 1874 | Born in West Branch, Iowa |
| 1884 | Orphaned |
| 1885 | Sent to Oregon |
| 1891 | Enrolls at Stanford University |
| 1895 | Graduates from Stanford with bachelor of arts in geology |
| 1896 | Employed by San Francisco mining engineer Louis Janin |
| 1897 | Arrives in Australia as agent for Bewick, Moreing and Company |
| 1899 | Marries Lou Henry |
| Sails to China | |
| 1901 | Becomes partner in Bewick, Moreing Moves to London |
| 1908 | Sets up independent consulting firm |
| 1909 | Publishes Principles of Mining |
| 1912 | In collaboration with Lou Hoover publishes De Re Metallica |
| Elected trustee of Stanford | |
| 1914 | Organizes Committee of American Residents in London for Assistance of American Travellers |
| Appointed chairman of the Commission for Relief in Belgium | |
| 1917 | Appointed food administrator |
| 1918 | Heads postwar European reconstruction |
| 1919 | Maintains American Relief Administration as private operation |
| Appointed vice chairman of Second Industrial Conference | |
| 1920 | Announces he is a Republican |
| Defeated in Republican presidential primary in California | |
| 1921 | Appointed secretary of commerce by President Harding Sends relief to Soviet Union |
| 1922 | Publishes American Individualism |
| 1927 | Heads relief operation for Mississippi River flood victims |
| 1928 | Elected president of the United States |
| 1929 | Signs Agricultural Marketing Act |
| Meets with British prime minister J. Ramsay MacDonald | |
| Convenes White House conferences to cope with the Wall | |
| Street crash and the onset of the Great Depression | |
| 1930 | Signs Hawley-Smoot Tariff bill |
| Establishes President’s Emergency Committee for Employment | |
| Stresses financial prudence in State of the Union address | |
| 1931 | Federal Farm Board collapses |
| Mukden incident erupts in Manchuria | |
| Kreditanstalt fails in Austria | |
| Proposes moratorium on war debts and reparations | |
| Sets up President’s Organization on Unemployment Relief | |
| National Credit Corporation created | |
| 1932 | Stimson Doctrine enunciated |
| Signs bill chartering Reconstruction Finance Corporation | |
| World Disarmament Conference meets in Geneva | |
| Signs Emergency Relief and Construction Act | |
| Bonus army routed | |
| Defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt in presidential election | |
| 1946 | Appointed food ambassador by President Truman |
| 1947 | Heads the first Hoover Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch |
| 1953 | Appointed chairman of the Second Hoover Commission |
| 1964 | Honored on his ninetieth birthday |
| Dies in New York City |