Early Life
1813
Livingstone born on March 19 in Blantyre, Scotland
1823
Starts work in cotton mill
1838
Accepted by London Missionary Society (LMS) for work in China
1839
Start of Opium War (which lasts until 1842) makes China missions impracticable
1840
Chance meeting with Robert Moffat in London persuades Livingstone to work in Africa; qualifies as doctor, ordained as minister, and sails for South Africa
1841
Reaches Cape Town; travels to Moffat's station in Kuruman
1845
Marries Mary Moffat
First Journeys
1847-52
Founds several mission stations, ending with Kolobeng
1849
Trip to Lake Ngami with William Cotton Oswell earns him fame in Britain
1851
Reaches upper Zambezi River for the first time
1852
Mary takes children to England
1853-6
Crosses southern Africa from coast to coast
1856
Returns to England and receives a hero's welcome—and the gold medal from the Royal Geographic Society
1857
Publishes Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa; leaves the LMS
Zambezi Expedition
1858
Zambezi Expedition sets sail; initial objectives abandoned by the end of the year
1859
Livingstone reaches Lake Nyasa
1862
Mary joins her husband on the Zambezi and dies almost immediately
1863
Zambezi Expedition and Universities Mission are recalled; Livingstone sails 2,500 miles to India to get a good price for his ship
1864
Son, Robert, dies of wounds fighting for the Union in the American Civil War days before he turns 19.
1865
Livingstone publishes Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambezi and its Tributaries
Last Journey
1866-73
On his last journey, tries (unsuccessfully) to find the source of the Nile
1871
Meets Henry M. Stanley
May 1873
Dies near Lake Bangweulu (Zambia); African companions take his body to Bagamoyo on the coast, a nine-month journey, and then to England
1874Buried ...

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