1930 - Roy Thomson obtains a franchise to sell radios in North Bay, Ont. He gets involved in media as an afterthought -- opening up a local radio station to help boost sales.
1934 - Thomson pays $2,600 to buy his first newspaper -- the weekly Timmins Press, which he turns into a daily.
1952 - Thomson buys the St. Petersburg Independent, his first newspaper outside of Canada.
1959 - Thomson buys 15 British newspapers including the The Sunday Times.
1965 - Thomson Newspapers Ltd. goes public
1967 - Thomson acquires The Times of London, one of the world's most respected newspapers. He takes on the financial risk himself, giving shareholders the opportunity to buy in later if the paper becomes profitable.
1976 - Roy Thomson dies. His son, Ken Thomson, at 52, takes over the family holdings.
1980 - Thomson acquires a 100 per cent interest in F.P. Publications, which publishes The Globe and Mail, The Winnipeg Free Press and The Vancouver Sun.
1981 - Kenneth Thomson sells The Times of London to Australian newspaper mogul Rupert Murdoch, after labour problems cause huge losses.
1996 - Thomson begins an exodus from newspapers after moving into higher-growth areas like legal publishing. Thomson sells all its U.K. holdings and about 50 newspapers in Canada and the United States. One of the papers sold was the Daily Press of Timmins, which Ken Thomson called a tough sentimental decision, but a logical corporate move.
2000 - Thomson announces plans to sell all remaining newspapers except The Globe and Mail.
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