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

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

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

Source: Times archive

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