1861 – He was born on the 7th day of May this year in Kolkata, India.
1877 – Tagore first wrote poems at age eight. He published his first substantial poetry under the pseudonym Bhanushingho ("Sun Lion") in this year. He also arose to notability when he composed several works, including a long poem set in the Maithili style pioneered by Vidyapati.
1878 – He enrolled at a public school in Brighton, England in this year; later, he studied at University College London, but returned to Bengal in 1880 without a degree.
1901 – He left Shilaidaha and moved to Santiniketan (West Bengal) to found an ashram, which would grow to include a marble-floored prayer hall ("The Mandir"), an experimental school, groves of trees, gardens, and a library.
1913 – He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in this year.
1915 – Tagore also accepted knighthood from the British Crown.
1921 – He and agricultural economist Leonard Elmhirst set up the Institute for Rural Reconstruction (which Tagore later renamed Shriniketan—"Abode of Peace") in Surul, a village near the ashram at Santiniketan.
1937 – He lost consciousness in late this year; he remained comatose and near death for an extended period. This was followed three years later in late 1940 by a similar spell, from which he never recovered.
1940 – He met Mahatma Gandhi at Santiniketan in this year.
1941 – He passed away on the 7th day of August this year in Kolkota, India.