July 18, 1950: born in Montreal to Doris Elizabeth (née Steeves) and Progressive Conservative MP Robert Layton and raised in Hudson, Quebec.
1969: Married Sally Halford and they had two children, Sarah and Mike, Mike is a a current Toronto City Councillor. Jack and Sally divorced in 1983 after 14 years of marriage.
1971: Graduated from McGill University with a BA in political science.
1972: Obtain a MA and later a PhD (183) at York University.
1974: Professor at Ryerson University before entering politics. Also taught at York University and the University of Toronto.
1982: First elected to Toronto City Council.
1985: Elected to Metropolitan Toronto Council.
1988: Re-elected to Toronto City Council.
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July 9, 1988: Married Toronto District School Board Trustee Olivia Chow.
1990: Became Deputy Mayor of Toronto.
November 12, 1991: Lost election to become mayor of Toronto.
October 25, 1993: Ran unsuccessfully for the NDP in the Rosedale riding in the federal election.
1994: Re-elected to Metropolitan Toronto City Council.
June 2, 1997: Lost to incumbent Dennis Mills in the riding of Toronto-Danforth federal election.
2001: Became President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
January 25, 2003: Elected leader of the federal NDP on the first ballot, replacing Alexa McDonough.
June 28, 2004: Won the federal riding of Toronto-Danforth in the 38th General Election.
January 23, 2006: Re-elected in Toronto-Danforth in the 39th General Election.
October 14, 2008: Re-elected in Toronto-Danforth in the 40th General Election.
December 1, 2008: Signed an accord with Liberal leader Stéphane Dion and Bloc Québécois Gilles Duceppe to form a coalition government to replace Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
February 5, 2010: Announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
March 4, 2011: Had hip surgery at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital after suffering a micro fracture which developed into a full fracture.
March 25, 2011: Voted in favour of non-confidence in government ov3er contempt of parliament, triggering federal election.
May 2, 2011: Re-elected in Toronto-Danforth and led the NDP to 103 seats in parliament to become the Leader of the Official Opposition for the first time in NDP history.
July 25, 2011: Announced he will be taking a temporary leave of absence from his post to fight a newly diagnosed cancer.
August 22, 2011: passed away in Toronto at the age of 61.
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