| 1938 | Born June 30, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota |
| 1958-62 | Attends University of Kansas in Lawrence; becomes a top runner |
| 1958-59 | All-American in cross-country; Kansas team wins NCAA outdoor national championships |
| 1960 | Winner, individual title in Big Eight Conference cross-country tournament |
| 1960 | Attempts to qualify for Olympics, but does not make the team |
| 1961 | Conference champion, 2-mile race |
| 1962 | Marries his college sweetheart, Pat |
| 1962 | Joins Marine Corps |
| 1964 | Makes Olympic team, but his achievements are largely ignored |
| 1964 | Wins Olympic gold medal in Olympics, in a startling upset; sets new Olympic record |
| 1965 | Sets world record in 6-mile run with a time of 27:11.6; sets American records in the 10,000 meters and the 3-mile run |
| 1968 | Attends Olympic trials and beats the "winner" by 13 seconds, but is disqualified because of application form errors |
| 1983 | Running Brave, a film version of Mills's life, is released |
| 1984 | Inducted into U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame |
| 1980s-present | Works as motivational speaker, author, and philanthropist |
| 1997 | Inducted into Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame |
| 1999 | Inducted into Distance Running Hall of Fame |
User Comments Add a comment…