1765: Juan Maria Antonio de Rivera of Spain, becomes the first European to visit Utah .

1776: Christian missionaries explored Utah, looking for a route to California.

1846: Ogden is founded by Miles Goodyear and marked the first permanent settlement by people of European descent in Utah.

1847: First Mormon settlers arrived in Utah under Brigham Young.

1847: Mormon settlers establish the town of Bountiful.

1848: United States gained control of Utah from Mexico after the Mexican War .

1849-1850: Mormon settlers petition the U.S. Government for statehood. At the time, the region was called Deseret and would have included much of the western United States. The petition was rejected.

1850: As a result of the Compromise of 1850, the Utah Territory was created.

1857: Mormon settlers and Paiute Indians massacre a group of immigrants from Arkansas in what came to be known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Control of the region passes between the Mormons and the U.S. Government repeatedly over the next decade.

1858: Salt Lake City is named capital of the Utah Territory.

1869: Transcontinental Railroad linking the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific was completed at Promontory Summit.

1896: Utah is admitted as the 45th state after Mormon leaders agree to ban the practice of polygamy (having multiple wives).

1906: Philo T. Farnsworth II, inventor of the television, was born in Beaver.

1919: Zion National Park is created.

2002: Salt Lake City hosts the 19th Winter Olympics.