Feb. 17, 1972 - Billie Joe Armstrong is born in Oakland.

May 4, 1972 - Mike Dirnt (Michael Ryan Pritchard) is born in Orlando.

Dec. 9, 1972 - Tre Cool (Frank Edwin Wright III) is born in Frankfurt, Germany.

Oct. 17, 1987 - The band Sweet Children, formed by teenagers Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, makes its debut performance at Rod's Hickory Pit in Vallejo.

1990 - Billie Joe Armstrong drops out of Pinole Valley High School in order to pursue music.

1990 - Having changed its name to Green Day, the group releases its first independent record, "39/Smooth," on East Bay label Lookout.

1990 - Drummer Tre Cool joins the fold by year's end

1992 - The group's second independent album, "Kerplunk," sells some 50,000 copies, enough to attract major label interest.

1994 - Green Day released its major-label debut "Dookie," a blockbuster that would eventually sell more than 10 million copies in the U.S. Hits included "Longview", "Basket Case" and "When I Come Around."

July 2, 1994 - Billie Joe Armstrong marries Adrienne Nesser.

1995 - The trio releases "Insomniac," which goes double-platinum, but is still seen as a commercial disappointment in comparison to "Dookie."

1995 - Armstrong identifies himself as bisexual in an interview with The

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Feb. 28, 1996 - Bille Joe Armstrong's first child, Joseph 'Joey' Marciano Armstrong (named after Joey Ramone), is born.

1997 - Green Day veers from its original punk influences and embraces a more mature pop sound for "Nimrod," a work best known for the sweet acoustic hit acoustic hit "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)."

Sept. 12, 1998 - Bille Joe Armstrong's second child, Jakob Danger Armstrong, is born.

2001 - The group is nominated for eight trophies at the California Music Awards - and it would go on to win all of them.

2002 - The group's popularity among fans was clearly slipping by this point, to the point where the near-unthinkable occurs: Green Day opens shows Blink-182.

2004 - Green Day bounces back to the top of the charts with the ambitious punk-rock-opera "American Idiot." The record, the band's first-ever No. 1, would produce the hits "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends."

2005 - "American Idiot" wins the Grammy for Best Rock Album

2006 - "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" wins the Grammy for Record of the Year

2007 - An animated version of the band appears at the start of "The Simpsons Movie," performing the show's famed theme song. The version would also be released as a single.

2008 - Green Day makes some noise with its alter-ego band, Foxboro Hot Tubs. The group releases the CD "Stop Drop and Roll!!!" and plays such small venues as the Stork Club in Oakland and Toot's Tavern in Crockett.

April, 2009 - The band does a string of special "surprise" shows at comparatively intimate Bay Area venues, including the Independent in SF and the Fox in Oakland, where they debut the material from "21st Century Breakdown."

May 15, 2009 - Green Day finally delivers its "American Idiot" follow-up, "21st Century Breakdown," which goes to No. 1 in countries around the globe.

Aug 18, 2009 - The group's major North American arena tour in support of "21st Century, touches down at HP Pavilion in San Jose.

Sept. 16, 2009 - The Berkeley Repertoire Theatre debuts the stage production of Green Day's "American Idol."