1890's: Emigration to the United States begins

1904-5: Japanese victory over Russia

1905: The Asiatic Exclusion League established

1907-8: The Gentleman's Agreement

1913: Passage of the Alien Land Law

1919: The Oriental Exclusion League established

1920's onwards: Two distinct Japanese American cultures emerging, Issei and Nisei

1920: A stronger Alien Land Act is passed

1924: The Immigration Act Of 1924

1940: The Alien Registration Act

Summer, 1941: The Hawaiian National Guard (made up largely of Nisei) was federalized and later became the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

November 1, 1941: The Japanese Language School at the Presidio of San Francisco was formed. In the first class were 45 Nisei and Kibei and 15 others. It was moved to Camp Savage, Minnesota, renamed the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS) and later moved to Fort Snelling, Minnesota
November 7, 1941: Curtis Munson issued his report on the Japanese Americans living on the coast.

December 7, 1941: Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. A blanket presidential warrant authorized U.S. Attorney General Francis Biddle to have the FBI arrest a predetermined number of "dangerous enemy aliens," including German, Italian, and Japanese nationals. Japanese Americans arrested by the end of the day.

December 8, 1941:  U.S. entered World War II.

December 11, 1941: FBI detained 1370 Japanese Americans classified as "dangerous enemy aliens."

February 19, 1942:  President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the secretary of war to define military areas "from which any or all persons may be
excluded as deemed necessary or desirable." The only significant opposition would come from the Quakers (Society of Friends) and the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union).

March 2, 1942:  General DeWitt issued Public Proclamation No. 1, creating military areas in Washington, Oregon, California, and parts of Arizona and declaring the right to remove German, Italian, and Japanese aliens and anyone of "Japanese Ancestry" living in Military Areas No. 1 and 2 should it become necessary.

March 18, 1942: Roosevelt created the War Relocation Authority (WRA). Milton Eisenhower became responsible for a plan to remove designated persons from the
restricted areas.

June 7, 1942 General DeWitt announced completion of the removal of 100,000 Japanese Americans from Military Area No. 1.

June 7, 1942: General DeWitt announced completion of the removal of 100,000 Japanese Americans from Military Area No. 1. Ito and Kanagawa

1941: Wartime Civil Control Administration established

1943: Yasui and Hirabayashi court case

1944: Koramatsue court case

1969: First pilgrimage to Manzanar

1979: JACL calls for reparations

1981: Commission on Wartime Relocation  and internment 

January 12 1988:  the ruling in Hirabayashi v U.S. finally vacates Hirabayashi's convictions for resisting curfew and evacuation orders. 

1988: Ronald Reagan publicly apologized to those of Japanese Ancestry  and also paid reparations to those who were still alive. 

          'Civil Liberties Act of 1988'. 

9^th October 1990:  the first nine redress payments were made.