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  1989 - Enron begins trading natural gas commodities.

December 2000 - Enron announces that president and chief operating officer Jeffrey Skilling will take over as chief executive from Kenneth Lay in February. Lay will remain as chairman. Stock hits 52-week high of $84.87.

August 2001 - Skilling resigns after six months; Lay named CEO again.

Oct. 16 - Enron reports $638 million third-quarter loss and discloses $1.2 billion reduction in the value of shareholders' stake in the company, partly related to a web of partnerships run by chief financial officer Andrew Fastow that had helped the company inflate profits and hide debt.

Oct. 22 - Enron acknowledges Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry.

Oct. 24 - Enron ousts Fastow.

Oct. 31 - Enron announces SEC inquiry has been upgraded to a formal investigation.

Nov. 8 - Enron revises financial statements for previous five years to account for $586 million in losses.

Nov. 28 - Enron stock plunges below $1 and questions about its finances mount.

Dec. 2 - Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

2002

Jan. 9 - Justice Department confirms it has begun a criminal investigation.

Jan. 23 - Lay resigns as chairman and CEO.

Feb. 7 - Fastow and former top aide Michael Kopper invoke the Fifth Amendment before Congress; Skilling testifies, saying he knew of no problems at Enron when he resigned.

March 14 - Former Enron auditor Arthur Andersen LLP indicted for destroying Enron-related documents.

June 15 - Andersen convicted of obstruction.

Oct. 16 - Andersen sentenced to probation and fined $500,000; firm was already banned from auditing public companies and had only a few hundred employees left after its conviction.

Oct. 31 - Fastow indicted on 78 charges of conspiracy, fraud, money laundering and other counts.

2003

March 19 - Enron announces plan to emerge from bankruptcy as two separate companies.

May 1 - Andrew Fastow's wife, Lea, and seven former executives charged. Lea Fastow accused of participating in some of husband's deals.

July 11 - Enron files reorganization plan that says most creditors will get about one-fifth of the $67 billion they are owed.

Sept. 10 - Former Enron treasurer Ben Glisan Jr. pleads guilty to conspiracy, becomes first former Enron executive put behind bars - for a five-year sentence.

2004

Jan. 14 - Andrew Fastow pleads guilty to conspiracy in a deal that called for a 10-year sentence and his help in the continuing investigation. Lea Fastow pleads guilty to filing false tax forms in a deal that calls for a five-month sentence and a year of supervised release.

Jan. 22 - Former chief accountant Richard Causey pleads innocent to conspiracy and fraud charges.

Feb. 19 - Skilling indicted, pleads innocent to 35 counts accusing him of widespread schemes to mislead government regulators and investors about the company's earnings.

April 7 - Lea Fastow withdraws a plea agreement after a federal judge balks at a sentencing deal.

May 6 - Lea Fastow pleads guilty to a reduced charge of filing a false tax form, a misdemeanor, and is sentenced to one year in a federal prison, the maximum sentence.

July 7 - Sealed indictment against Lay handed up.

July 8 - Lay surrenders to FBI. Indictment unsealed, accusing him of participating in a conspiracy to manipulate Enron's quarterly financial results, making false and misleading public statements about the company's financial performance and omitting facts necessary to make financial statements accurate and fair.

© 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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