Pick a Day

Bob Dylan is born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota. He moves to New York City in 1961, where he becomes the breakout star of the Greenwich Village folk scene, known for intricate, incisive, and often mysterious lyrics that are examined in great detail throughout his career. We're still trying to make sense of "Desolation Row."

Robert Zimmerman, later known as Bob Dylan, has his bar mitzvah in Hibbing, Minnesota.

17-year-old Bob Dylan (known as Robert Zimmerman) sees Buddy Holly perform at the Duluth Armory in Minnesota. Three days later, Holly dies in a plane crash.

Robert Zimmerman graduates from Hibbing High School in Minnesota. He moves on to the University of Minnesota, but soon leaves for New York City to become the full-time folk singer, Bob Dylan.

Five days after arriving in New York from Minnesota, Bob Dylan meets his ailing folk hero, Woody Guthrie, tracking him down in East Orange, New Jersey. Dylan pays tribute with "Song To Woody," which appears on his first album the following year.More

Bob Dylan arrives in New York after dropping out of the University of Minnesota. He immediately gets to work, playing a show at the club Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village.

Bob Dylan makes his first recordings after moving from Minnesota to New York City, at the home of friends Sid and Bob Gleason in East Orange, New Jersey. They include versions of "San Francisco Bay Blues" and "Jesus Met The Woman At The Well."

Bob Dylan makes his professional recording debut when he plays harmonica on the Harry Belafonte recording of "Midnight Special." Dylan makes $50 for the session.

Bob Dylan plays for the first time at Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village, opening for John Lee Hooker and performing a new song entitled "Blowin' In The Wind."

Would-be riders of the Hudson Belle, a popular excursion boat that travels up and down the Hudson River, break into a stampede after learning that some of them are holding fraudulent tickets. The next day, a young Bob Dylan hears about the story and writes "Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues."

The New York Times publishes a glowing review of a Bob Dylan performance, giving the 20-year-old upstart his first press in a major publication.More

Bob Dylan plays a show at Gerde's Folk City in New York that earns him a glowing review in The New York Times, giving him his first major media exposure.

Bob Dylan signs with Columbia Records, his first recording contract. Behind the deal is famed Columbia A&R man John Hammond, who is impressed by Dylan's songwriting talents, unique voice and harmonica playing.

Bob Dylan records six more songs for his debut album: "Man Of Constant Sorrow," "Pretty Peggy-O," "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean," "Gospel Plow," "Highway 51," and "Freight Train Blues."

Bob Dylan records seven songs for his self-titled debut album: "You're No Good," "Fixin' To Die," "House Of The Risin' Sun," "Talkin' New York," "Song To Woody," "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down," and "In My Time of Dyin'."

Bob Dylan plays to a crowd of 53 at his Carnegie Hall debut, his first concert outside of the Greenwich Village scene. The show takes place in the smaller Chapter Hall auditorium.

Bob Dylan releases his self-titled debut album. It doesn't chart in America, but sets the stage for his breakthrough a year later: The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan, not yet famous, records "Blowin' In The Wind" at Columbia Records' studios in New York City, but doesn't release it until May 27, 1963, when it appears on his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. It eventually becomes one of Dylan's most famous songs, but the first version most listeners hear is the hit cover by Peter, Paul and Mary, which goes to #2 in the US in August 1963.

Bob Dylan makes his name change official, legally saying adieu to his birth name, Robert Zimmerman.

Bob Dylan records "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right."

Bob Dylan records "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" in Studio A at Columbia Recording Studios.

A pre-famous Bob Dylan appears in a British television play called The Madhouse on Castle Street, playing an itinerant musician. No recording exists, but Dylan supposedly played "Blowin' In The Wind" during the show, marking the first broadcast of the song.

Hattie Carroll, a 51-year-old bartender in Baltimore, is killed after a disgruntled patron hits her with a cane. Bob Dylan writes a song about it called "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll," which appears on his The Times They Are A-Changin' album.

Bob Dylan records "Girl From The North Country," "Masters Of War," "Talking World War III Blues," and "Bob Dylan's Dream." The songs are all released on his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan releases his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

The very first Monterey Folk Festival begins at the Monterey Fairgrounds in California. Over the weekend, Bob Dylan makes his first West Coast performance, Jerry Garcia's band wins an amateur competition, and Janis Joplin draws a crowd on the second stage.More

Bob Dylan refuses to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show when they won't let him play "Talkin' John Birch Society Blues."More

A Bob Dylan song charts for the first time when Peter, Paul and Mary's cover of "Blowin' In The Wind" enters the Hot 100 at #86. In August, it climbs to #2, introducing many listeners to Dylan's music.

At the March On Washington, where Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his "I have a dream" speech, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Odetta and Mahalia Jackson sing for equal rights.More

Newsweek runs a story on Bob Dylan insinuating he stole the song "Blowin' In The Wind" from a high school student. Dylan never comments on it, and the rumor slowly grows into an urban legend.More