retarded.
1827 Joseph Smith, a farmer in upstate New York, says an angel named Moroni leads him to golden plates that contain a 'New World' scripture.
1830 The document is published as The Book of Mormon. The Church of Christ is organized.
1831 Mr. Smith and his followers move to Kirtland, Ohio. He designates Independence, Mo., as Zion. Locals drive out Mormons from Jackson County, Mo., two years later.
1839 After a war with locals in Missouri, Mormons move to Nauvoo, Ill., where Mr. Smith eventually becomes mayor. There, Mormon leaders receive revelation that they should engage in plural (polygamous) marriages. That divides the Mormons.
1844 Mr. Smith runs for president of the U.S. Mormons close down a Nauvoo paper, which vowed to expose the group's polygamy. Mr. Smith is arrested and assassinated by a mob.
1846 Forced from Nauvoo, Mormons journey to the West. Brigham Young becomes the church's second president after the first groups arrive in Salt Lake Valley. He later denies black members leadership roles.
1857 Travelers are massacred at Mountain Meadows, Utah; Mormons are implicated.
1862 Ten years after the church announces its polygamy policy, Congress passes Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, defining plural marriage as a crime.
1887 Congressional act strips the church of its incorporation.
1890 Church president declares an end to plural marriage. The ban is not uniformly followed and it is restated in 1904.
1896 Utah is granted statehood.
1907 Mormon Church leader, Reed Smoot, is seated in the Senate after senators object for years because of the church's earlier stand on polygamy.
1978 Church announces that its leaders received a revelation which allows black members to be church leaders.
1982 Church membership reaches five million. The membership doubles by 1997.