July 7, 1910: McCarthy born in Calgary; three years later her parents, George and Mary, move to Toronto.
Fall 1926: McCarthy begins studies at Ontario College of Art, Toronto. Meets Arthur Lismer who later hires her as children's teacher at the Art Gallery of Toronto.
Fall 1932: Begins working at Central Technical Collegiate, Toronto, as an art teacher.
1939: Purchases land in Scarborough for just under $1,300; begins work on home/studio (Fool's Paradise).
1961-62: Travels to Japan,south-east Asia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Europe and elsewhere, painting all the while.
1972: Retires from teaching. Makes the first of what will be several trips to the Arctic.
1986: Made member of the Order of Canada; six years later receives Order of Ontario.
1990: Publishes A Fool in Paradise, the first of three memoirs. The others: The Good Wine (1991) and Ninety Years Wise (2004).
March 2004: Doris McCarthy Gallery opens at the University of Toronto Scarborough with a major McCarthy retrospective titled Everything Which is Yes.
Sources: Ninety Years Wise (Doris McCarthy), Everything Which is Yes (catalogue ), Roughing It in the Bush (catalogue )