1944 Black born to affluent Canadian family
1959 Expelled from prestigious Upper Canada College for selling exam papers
1965 Gains history BA
1971 Profitably sells the Sherbrooke Record newspaper in Quebec, a money-losing publication bought in 1969, and buys more titles
1978 At just 33, Black acquires control of Canada’s largest and best known conglomerate, Argus Corp Ltd, and further invests in newspapers
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1985 Acquires Daily Telegraph
1990 Following earlier out-of-court victories, Penguin destroys 6,200 copies of a book criticising Black after he begins libel proceedings
1992 Marries second wife Barbara Amiel, a columnist at The Times
1996 Black’s media empire peaks as world’s largest print-only operation. Over 500 publications worldwide include Israel’s Jerusalem Post, the Chicago Sun-Times and 59 of Canada’s 105 dailies
1998 Black launches Canada’s National Post. Fails to become major daily despite CA$200m (£94m) spending over nine years
2000 Increasingly indebted, Black sells a number of Canadian newspapers
2001 Renounces Canadian citizenship to join Britain’s House of Lords on Margaret Thatcher’s nomination
2003 Investment firm Tweedy Browne Co writes to HI, Black’s holding company, and the US regulator, alleging excessive payments to Black. Black resigns after an HI committee reports that the company made US$32.15m (£15.1m) of irregular payments
2004 Amiel loses Telegraph column; paper acquired by Barclay brothers. US regulator report says Black ran ‘corporate kleptocracy’
2005 Black indicted for fraud. Former employee David Radler pleads guilty, offers to testify for prosecution
March 14, 2007 Trial begins in Chicago. Black and 3 co-defendants charged with diverting $60 million in funds
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20 March Prosecution compares Black to a bank robber in a tie
31 March-1 April, 2007 During trial break, Black attends literary party in Canada despite travel restrictions
May 24, 2007 Jury told that Black secretly enlisted Donald Trump to speak in his favour at shareholder meeting
June 27 Jury begins considering verdict
July 13 Jury finds Black guilty of four of 13 charges
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Source: Times archive