Joe Paterno

Timeline
Dec. 21, 1926: Joseph Vincent Paterno is born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Angelo and Florence Paterno.

1940: Graduated from St. Edmonds Grammar School.

1944: Graduated from Brooklyn Prep.

1944-45: Served one year in the Army.

1945: Accepted an athletic scholarship to Brown University.

1949: Senior brothers Joe and George Paterno lead Brown to an 8-1 season.

1950: Paterno graduates and follows Brown head coach Rip Engle to Penn State as his assistant.

Oct. 1, 1955: Misses game vs. Army due to the death of his father.

1962: He marries Suzanne Pohland, Penn State Class of 1962.

Feb. 19, 1966: Paterno is named 14th head coach at Penn State following Engle's retirement.

Sept. 17, 1966: Defeats Maryland, 15-7, in his first game as head coach.

Jan. 1, 1969: Nittany Lions defeat Kansas, 15-14, in the Orange Bowl to record their first unbeaten season.

1969: Paterno hires Jerry Sandusky to be Penn State's defensive line coach.

Jan. 1, 1970: Penn State tops Missouri, 10-3, in the Orange Bowl for their second consecutive 11-0 season.

1973: Shortly after a 14-0 loss to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31, 1972, Paterno agrees to become coach and general manager of the New England Patriots, but backs out shortly thereafter.

Dec. 4, 1973: Penn State running back John Cappelletti is named Heisman Trophy winner.

Jan. 1, 1974: Defeats LSU, 16-9, in Orange Bowl to complete third unbeaten season.

Nov. 6, 1976: Penn State tops North Carolina State, 41-20, Paterno's 100th victory.

Jan. 1, 1983: Penn State defeats top-ranked Georgia, 27-23, in the Sugar Bowl to claim its first national championship.

1984: Joe and Sue Paterno establish the Paterno Libraries Endowment with gifts totaling $120,000.

Jan. 1, 1986: No. 1 Penn State is beaten by Oklahoma, 25-10, in the Orange Bowl.

Dec. 22, 1986: Sports Illustrated names Paterno its Sportsman of the Year following Penn State's 11-0 regular season.

Jan. 2, 1987: The Nittany Lions upset Miami, 14-10, in the Fiesta Bowl to give Penn State its second national title.

Sept. 5, 1987: Penn State thumps Bowling Green, 45-17, for Paterno's 200th win.

Nov. 17, 1990: Penn State records last-second, 24-21 win at top-ranked Notre Dame.

Sept. 4, 1993: Nittany Lions defeat Minnesoa, 38-20, in its first game as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

1994: Penn State finishes 12-0 following a 38-20 win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl, but ends up second in the final rankings to Nebraska.

1995: Paterno hires son Jay as assistant coach.

1997: Ground is broken for a new $34 million Paterno Library on Penn State's campus.

Sept. 12, 1998: Like his 200th win, his 300th victory comes at the expense of Bowling Green, this time by a 48-3 score.

Oct. 27, 2001: A 29-27 victory over Ohio State makes Paterno the NCAA Division I all-time winningest head coach.

Nov. 2, 2001: A 7-foot bronze statue of Paterno is unveiled at Beaver Stadium.

Nov. 4, 2006: Paterno is hit along the sideline during a game and suffers a broken left shin.

Dec. 4, 2007: Paterno is inducted into College Football Hall of Fame.

Nov. 6, 2010: Penn State tops Northwestern, 35-21, to give Paterno his 400th career victory.

Aug 7, 2011: During a preseason practice, wide receiver Devon Smith runs into Paterno. The coach returns to practice 3 days after the collision but he coaches what would be his final season from the press box.

Oct. 29, 2011: Trailing 7-0, Penn State scores 10 fourth-quarter points to defeat Illinois, as Paterno passes Eddie Robinson to become the winningest (409) head coach in Division I.

Nov. 5, 2011: Sandusky is charged with molesting eight boys between the mid-1990s and 2008, often on the Penn State campus. Athletic director Tim Curley and senior vice president Gary Schultz are accused of failing to report a 2002 assault and lying to a grand jury. Paterno is not charged.

Nov. 9, 2011: After announcing earlier in the day he would retire following the season, Paterno is fired by the Board of Trustees by phone.

Nov. 18, 2011: Paterno's family announces that he has a "treatable" form of cancer.

Dec. 11, 2011: Paterno is admitted to the hospital after fracturing his pelvis the previous day in a fall at his home. He does not need surgery, but remains in the hospital to continue his cancer treatments.

Dec. 21, 2011: Paterno turns 85.

Jan. 12-13: Paterno tells the Washington Post in his first interview since his ouster that he's "shocked and saddened" by the scandal and "didn't know which way to go" after Mike McQueary went to him in 2002. Paterno is admitted to the hospital on Jan. 13 for the last time.

2012 : Doctors says Paterno's condition is "serious" after he experienced complications from lung cancer in recent days.

July 14th 2012: Paterno dies at 9:25 a.m. at the Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College from "metastatic small cell carcinoma of the lung," the hospital says in a statement.