1861
June 19 – Rizal is born in the town of Calamba, Laguna, the seventh child of Francisco Mercado Rizal and Teodora Alonso y Quintos
June 22 – Rizal is baptized as José Rizal Mercado

1872
February 17 - Three Filipino priests, Mariano Gomez, José Apolonio Burgos and Jacinto Zamora, are executed on charges of subversion
June 26 – Rizal attends Ateneo Municipal de Manila as a day scholar
1874
November 14 – Rizal composes the poem “Al Niño Jesús”

1875
December 5 – Rizal writes the poems “El Combate: Urbiztondo,” “Terror de Joló,” “El embarque,” and “Y es español: Elcano el primero en dar vuelta al mundo”

1876
April 1 – Rizal pens the poem “Alianza íntima entre la religión y la buena educación”
December 3 – Rizal pens the poems “El cautiverio y el triunfo,” “Entrada triunfal de los Reyes Católicos en Granada” and “La conquista de Granada”
1877

March 14 - Rizal at the age of sixteen obtains his bachelor of arts degree from the Ateneo Municipal de Manila with the general average of sobresaliente (excellent).
June – Rizal meets Miss Segunda Katigbak
1878
January 6 – Rizal enrolls in philosophy and letters at the University of Santo Tomás (UST)

May 21 – Rizal passes the surveyor’s examination (but is granted a license only after three years)
June 2 – Rizal enrolls in preparatory and proper medicine at UST
September 11 – Using the pen name P. Jacinto, Rizal begins his diary Memorias de un estudiante de Manila
1879
November 22 – Rizal composes his award-winning poem, “A la juventud filipina” (To the Philippine Youth)
1880
April 13 – Rizal wins first prize for the allegory “El consejo de los Dioses”

December 8 – Ateneo Municipal de Manila produces Rizal’s operetta “Junto al Pasig”
1881
January 25 – Rizal writes a poem for the Ateneo rector entitled “Al muy R.P. Pablo Ramón, S.J., rector del Ateneo en sus días”
February 10 – Rizal becomes secretary of the Academia de Ciencias Filosóficonaturales
April 30 – Rizal sketches a pencil drawing of Leonor Rivera
1882
May 3 – Rizal sails for Spain and enrolls at the Universidad Central de Madrid with financial help from his brother Paciano

August 20 – Diariong Tagalog publishes Rizal’s first essay “Amor Patria,” using Laong Laan as pen name while in Barcelona
1883
June 17 – Rizal arrives in Paris

June 18 - Rizal visits Leannec Hospital
June 20 – Rizal visits Lariboisiere Hospital where Félix Pardo de Tavera is an extern
September 28 – Rizal goes back to Madrid and enrolls in Universidad Central for a second course in medicine
November 4 – Rizal’s sister Soledad marries
1884

March 11 – Rizal begins to study German seriously
June 21 – Rizal is conferred the degree of licentiate in medicine
June 25 – Rizal delivers a speech honoring Filipino painters Juan Luna and Félix Resurrección Hidalgo

July 1 – Through the newspaper El Progreso, Rizal asks for freedom of the press and the Filipino right of representation in the Spanish Cortes
August 31 – News of Rizal’s speech about the two Filipino painters makes him famous in the Philippines
1885
January 1 – In a letter, Paciano tells Rizal that it would be too dangerous for him to return immediately to the Philippines
June 16 - Rizal is informed by Manuel Hidalgo about cholera in Manila
June 19 – Rizal finishes his degree in licentiate in philosophy and letters in Universidad Central de Madrid with a grade of sobresaliente
November 19 – Rizal learns about the gambling habit of Filipinos in Madrid

December 4 - Rizal goes to Paris and practices ophthalmology with Dr. de Wecker at the Crugen Clinic, against his brother Paciano’s wishes
1886
February 2 – Rizal arrives in Germany
April 22 – Rizal writes the poem “A Las Flores de Heildelberg” (To The Flowers of Heidelberg)
July 14 - Rizal becomes a member of the Chess Club of Germany
October 31 – Rizal meets Dr. Adolf Bernard Meyer, naturalist of the Dresden University
December 11 – Máximo Viola joins Rizal in Berlin
December 15 – Rizal starts teaching Viola the German language
1887
January – Rizal becomes a member of the Ethnographic Society of Berlin
February – Rizal becomes a member of the Anthropological Society and the Geographic Society of Berlin

March 21 – Copies of Noli Me Tangere become available
April – Rizal submits his thesis “Arte Métrica del Tagalog” to the Ethnographic Society of Berlin
June 19 – Rizal celebrates his 26th birthday in Geneva, Switzerland

August 5 – Rizal arrives in Manila
August 30 – An order prohibiting the possession and reading of Noli Me Tangere is issued
September - Olimpia, Rizal’s sister, dies of hemorrhage while giving birth
1888
February 8 – Rizal arrives in Hong Kong
February 28 – Rizal arrives in Japan
March 15 – Rizal sees O-Sei-san for the first time
April 28 - Rizal arrives in the United States
May 8 – Rizal starts travelling across the American continent
June 2 - Rizal arrives in London, England
July 9 – Spanish senator Vida denounces Rizal in the Senate of Madrid, calling Noli Me Tangere anti-Catholic
December 13 – La Solidaridad is founded with Marcelo H. del Pilar as editor in chief

1889
March 31 – Rizal’s “Me piden versos” (They Ask Me For Verses) is published in La Solidaridad under the pen name Laong Laan

April 12 – Dr. Luis M. de Pardo delivers a speech against Rizal and Noli Me Tangere before the Spanish Congress
May 23 – Rizal’s brother-in-law Mariano Herbosa dies of cholera
July 12 - Rizal arrives in Paris, spending days proofreading Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas
September 10 – Rizal meets Sr. Segismundo Moret, a former minister of the Spanish government who admires Noli Me Tangere
1890

February 2 – Rizal arrives in Brussels, Belgium
May 26 – Rizal’s annotations of Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas become widely read in the Philippines
May 28 – Through a letter Rizal informs M. H. del Pilar about the Filipinos’ gambling habit in Madrid
June 28 – Friars harass Rizal’s family in Calamba
July 20 – Rizal’s family loses the land case against the friars
1891

March 21 – Rizal finishes his second novel El Filibusterismo, but plans to revise some chapters
October 7 – Rizal informs del Pilar that he will stop writing for La Solidaridad
October 9 – Rizal tells Ferdinand Blumentritt of his decision to cease writing for La Solidaridad in order to avoid a schism among the Filipinos in Spain
December 6 - Rizal’s family reunites in Hong Kong
December – Rizal is almost attacked by an Augustinian friar
1892
January 30 – Juan Luna endorses Rizal’s plan of establishing a Filipino colony in North Borneo

February - The Kataas-taasang Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan is founded by Andrés Bonifacio
June 21 – Rizal writes a letter to Governor-General Eulogio Despujol, informing the latter of his return to the Philippines
July 6 – Rizal is arrested and imprisoned in Fort Santiago for sedition and anti-religion
September 1 – Rizal starts corresponding with Father Pablo Pastells on matters of philosophy and religion
July 7 – Despujol orders Rizal’s exile to Dapitan

August 20 – Rizal writes a poem “A Don Ricardo Carnicero” for his guardian in Dapitan
September 21 – Rizal wins the lottery’s second prize
1893

April 30 – Rizal’s “El consejo de los Dioses” is published in La Solidaridad
May 16 – Rizal’s prison guardian Carnicero is replaced
August 28 - Leonor Rivera, Rizal’s girlfriend for eleven years, dies
August 29 – Rizal’s mother visits him in Dapitan
1894
February – Governor-General Ramón Blanco visits Rizal in Dapitan

June – Rizal makes a successful operation on his mother’s cataract
August – Rizal encourages businessmen in Dapitan to form a company

August 21 – Rizal exchanges information with Dr. Adolf Meyer about animal and insect classification
1895
January 1 – Rizal finishes the draft of the statutes and regulations for the Society of Dapitan Agriculturists

February - Rizal meets Josephine Bracken
February 22 – Rizal asks George Taufer for the hand of Josephine Bracken
June 1 – Governor-General Blanco permits Rizal to establish an agricultural colony in Dapitan
October 22 - Rizal sends a poem to his mother entitled “Mi retiro” (My Retreat)
1896
July 1 – Pío Valenzuela visits and informs Rizal of the impending revolution against the Spanish colonial government

July 30 – Rizal receives a letter informing him that his application to go to Cuba to serve the Spanish army as a military doctor has been accepted
August 23 – The Philippine Revolution starts with the Cry of Pugadlawin
September 4 – On the ship bound for Spain, Rizal receives news implicating him as the cause of disturbances in the Philippines
December 11 – In the presence of his defender Lt. Luis Taviel de Andrade, Rizal is charged with sedition. The following day he writes his defense

December 15 – Imprisoned in Fort Santiago, Rizal writes a manifesto to the Filipinos to stop the revolution. The Spanish authorities, however, do not publish the document

December 27 – Rizal is sentenced to death
December 29 – Rizal is reputed to have written an unsigned poem, later to become known as “Mi último adios” (Last Poem of Rizal)
December 30 – At 7:03 am Rizal is executed. In the afternoon, Narcisa discovers a newly dug grave at Paco Cemetery. She marks it with a marble plaque, with Rizal’s initials in reverse

1898
May 1 – The Spanish fleet surrenders to the Americans in the Battle of Manila Bay
July – Narcisa retrieves Rizal’s remains, storing them in an urn made by Romualdo Teodoro de Jesús
1901
June 11 – The Philippine Government passes Act No. 137 which renames the province of Morong to Rizal in honor of the national hero
September 28 – The Philippine Assembly approves Act No. 243 to build the Rizal monument in Luneta
1912
December 30 – The Philippine Assembly unveils the Rizal Monument, twelve years after the Act’s approval.
Rizal’s remains are transferred to their final resting place
1956
June 12 – The Philippine Government passes Republic Act No. 1425 which mandates all public and private schools, colleges and universities to include a curriculum on the life and works of José Rizal, particularly a study of his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo