Oprah's timeline...

    
1954
January 29: Oprah Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, the illegitimate child of Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey. That same year the U.S. Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education, ruled that racial segregation in public schools is a violation of the 14th amendment of the Constitution.
       
       
         
       
1960
Oprah left Mississppi for Milwaukee to live with her mother and stepsister and later, her stepbrother. She excelled at school and ran wild at home.        
1968
Her mother tried to place her in a juvenile hall but Oprah was turned away for lack of beds.

Fourteen-year-old Oprah gave birth to a premature boy, who died soon after birth.

Her father Vernon and his wired, Zelma, took Oprah into their Nashville home. In this new atmosphere Oprah became an honor student and was popular at school.

1970
WVOL Radio hired Oprah “Gail” Winfrey to read news on the air. She was $100 per week, an excellent salary for a 16-year-old.
 
1971
Oprah graduated from East Nashville High School and was voted “Most Popular.” She won a four-year scholarship to Tennessee State University based on her speaking abilities.

Oprah was crowned Miss Black Tennessee.
 
1973
At 19, Oprah became the first African American woman ever to anchor the news at Nashville’s WTVF-TV.
1976
WJZ-TV Baltimore hired Oprah to host the 6 o’clock news.

Oprah met her lifetime pal, Gayle King, a production assistant at WJZ-TV.

 
1976
April 1: Oprah was demoted from news anchor to morning talk show host.

Oprah became cohost of People are Talking on WJZ-TV, a job that lasted until 1983.

 
1984
Oprah Winfrey moved to Illinois to host A.M. Chicago.
1985
The Oprah Winfrey Show replaced A.M. Chicago; later in the year the show became nationally syndicated.

The Color Purple was released and Oprah was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Sophia.

 
1986
The movie Native Son was released. In it Oprah plays a mother who begged for her son’s life after he accidentally killed a young woman.
1987
Oprah won her first Emmy as outstanding talk/service show host, and The Oprah Winfrey Show is named best show.

February 9: Oprah aired what is considered by some critics to be her best show: It was from Forsyth County, Georgia, where no blacks had been allowed to live since 1912.

Tennessee State University granted Oprah a diploma, after refusing to waive her senior project in lieu of work experience. She got her degree in speech and drama, then delivered the commencement address.

Oprah played herself in the Danny DeVito movie, Throw Momma from the Train.

 
   
1988
Oprah was named Broadcaster of the Year by the International Television and Radio Society. The youngest-ever recipient of that award. She joined the ranks of Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Barbara Walters, and Ted Koppel.

Oprah obtained ownership and control of her show from Chicago’s ABC-TV station, WLS. She began producing the show in the fall of 1988.

Oprah bought her Chicago facility and her farm in Indiana.

Billy Rizzo, Oprah’s longtime assistant died of AIDS.

Oprah was a guest star on Pee-Wee Herman’s Playhouse: Christmas Special.

 
   
1989
Oprah’s half brother Jeffrey Lee died of AIDS.

Oprah starred as Mattie Michael in the movie The Women of Brewster Place.

Using the Optifast liquid diet, Oprah reduced her weight to 142 pounds, allowing her to fit into a size 10 dress. She celebrated by dragging a 67-pound slab of animal fat onto her show. She soon regained the pounds she lost.

 
   
1990
Brewster Place, a weekly television show that Oprah produced and starred in, closed after just 10 weeks.

Oprah played herself in the movie Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones.

On a show in which she interviewed child sexual abuse victim Truddi Chase, Oprah revealed that she too had been molested as a child.

 
   
1991
Oprah initiated the National Child Protection Act and testified before Congress.

Oprah hired California spa chef Rosie Daley to supervise a new and healthier diet.

 
   
1992
Stedman Graham and Oprah became engaged and, to her later regret, Oprah announced on national television.

When Oprah won Best Talk Show Host at the Daytime Emmy Awards, she was miserable. She weighed 237 pounds, her highest weight ever.

Oprah found Colorado trainer Bob Greene to supervise her exercise program.

 
   
1993
With looking on Oprah, President Bill Clinton signed the National Child Protection Act.

Oprah produced and starred in the made-for-TV movie, There Are No Children Here.

Oprah took up running and began to lose the nearly 80 pounds she gained following her liquid diet.

Publishing company Alfred E. Knopf signed Oprah for an alleged $4 million contract for her biography. In the summer of 1993, Oprah withdrew the finished book and it was never published.

 
   
1994
Oprah won Best Talk Show and Best Talk Show Host at the 21st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.

In the Kitchen with Rosie: Oprah’s Favorite Recipes, was published by Knopf, seen as a palliative for the withdrawal of Oprah’s own book the year before.

  
   
1995
January 13: Oprah admitted on a broadcast television show that 20 years earlier she had used cocaine.

Oprah became the first woman to head the Forbes Top 40 Entertainers list, a ranking of entertainers by their income. She also was the only entertainer and the only black on Forbes’ list of 400 richest Americans.

Oprah won an Emmy for Best Talk Show and Best Host for the second year in a row.

The Walt Disney Co. contracted with Oprah to produce and star in several motion pictures over the next five years.

“Oprah Online” debuted on American Online in partnership with ABC.

Indecent exposure charges were dropped against Oprah’s father Vernon Winfrey.

 
   
1996
Oprah received the most prestigious award in broadcasting, the George Foster Peabody’s Individual Achievement Award.

April 16: The Oprah Winfrey Show dealt with mad cow disease in the United States. Oprah was subsequently sued under a “veggie libel” law in Texas that prohibits false product disparagement.

April 23: Dr. Gary Weber of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and cattle rancher Connie Greig appeared on Oprah’s show to refuse implications of an earlier show that eating beef could expose Americans to a deadly brain disease.

September 16: Oprah announced the start of her successful on-air bookclub.

 
   
1997
Before Women Had Wings, starring Oprah and produced by her, aired on ABC. The show helped make ABC number 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the week.

Bob Greene and Oprah’s video, Oprah: Make the Connection, was released.

The Wedding, a four-hour miniseries directed by Charles Burnett and starring Halle Berry, was produced and released under the banner Oprah Winfrey Presents.

Oprah announced the formation of Oprah’s Angel Network, a national effort to encourage viewers to make charitable contributions and to do volunteer work.

Oprah delivered the commencements address to the Wellesley College Class of 1997.

 
   
1998
February 26: Oprah prevailed in defending herself in the food disparagement lawsuit brought by Texas cattlemen.

Oprah received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmy Awards, plus an award for top talk show host.

Harpo Entertainment had the movie version of the Toni Morrison novel, Beloved, in production.

 
   
       
   

I know there is lots of stuff to add...but I haven't found the time to do so...hmmm...

want to help me out with that? Well, why don't you just send me your "Oprah Timelines" or write me and edit a few things here....

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