August 4, 1929: born in Cairo, Egypt, the fifth child of Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini, a Palestinian merchant.

1933: his mother, Zahwa, dies. Yassir and his infant brother, Fathi, are sent to Jerusalem to live with an uncle.

1949: moves back to Cairo, and forms Palestinian Students’ League.

August 1956: attends international student congress in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he secures membership for Palestine. For first time, he wears the Palestinian headdress, or keffiyeh, that becomes his trademark.

January 1, 1965: forms Fatah guerrilla movement. Two days later attempts the first of many attacks on Israel, an abortive bombing of a water canal in Galilee.

March 21, 1968: an Israeli army attack on the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) base at Karameh, Jordan, inflicts heavy losses, but is seen as victory for Mr Arafat and his group. Thousands join the PLO.

February 4, 1969: takes over PLO chairmanship, transforming the group into a dynamic force that makes the Palestinian cause known worldwide.

November 13, 1974: addresses the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York.

June 6, 1982: Israel invades Lebanon to crush the PLO, forcing Mr Arafat to flee Beirut for Tunisia in North Africa.

October 1, 1985: narrowly escapes death in an Israeli air raid on the PLO headquarters in Tunis.

April 16, 1988: Khalil al-Wazir, the PLO’s military commander, also known as Abu Jihad, is assassinated in Tunis. Israel is blamed.

December 12, 1988: accepts Israel’s right to exist, and renounces terrorism.

Times Recommends

• Rio Tinto four held as China prepares case
• Diplomats must keep heads down and trousers up
• When in Rome should one make like Berlusconi?