Richard Stallman, often abbreviated as 'rms', was born on March 16, 1953. He is an American software freedom activist, hacker, and software developer.

During his time at summer camp, Richard Stallman reads his first computer manuals for the IBM 7094.

In 1970, during his senior year of high school, Stallman was hired by the IBM New York Scientific Center to write a numerical analysis program in Fortran. After completing the task, he worked on a text editor in APL and a preprocessor for the PL/I programming language on the IBM System/360.

Richard Stallman begins programming in the MIT artificial intelligence lab after completing his freshman year of college.

After the knee injury and social withdrawal, Richard Stallman found solace in programming, focusing on his achievements in this area.

On May 29, 1974, an individual graduated from Harvard with a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics.

In 1975, Stallman, while working as a research assistant at MIT, published a paper with Gerry Sussman on an AI truth maintenance system, introducing the technique of dependency-directed backtracking, which is still considered the most general and powerful form of intelligent backtracking.

The US Copyright Act of 1976 triggered a shift in the legal characteristics of software, leading to manufacturers using copyright and restrictive software licenses to limit or prohibit copying and redistribution.

Richard Stallman hacks MIT's password system, showcasing his skills and challenging the security measures in place.

In 1979, Brian Reid placed time bombs in the Scribe markup language and word processing system to restrict unlicensed access to the software, which Richard Stallman criticized as 'a crime against humanity'.

In 1980, Richard Stallman and other hackers at the AI Lab were denied access to the source code for the Xerox 9700 laser printer, which hindered their ability to modify the software. Stallman had previously customized software for an older printer to send notifications to users, highlighting the importance of software freedom.

Stallman hacked into the MIT lab computers' password control system, decrypted all users' passwords, and emailed them urging a return to anonymous logins.

On January 1, 1983, the GNU Project was announced by an individual.

Stallman announced the GNU project, aiming to create a free operating system to counter the rise of proprietary software.

On September 27, 1983, Richard M. Stallman (RMS) posted the initial announcement of GNU, his project to develop a fully free (as in freedom) operating system. The announcement laid out the plan for GNU's development and core components.

Richard Stallman announced the development of a free operating system named GNU, which stands for GNU's Not Unix.

On January 5, 1984, Stallman began working on the GNU project, aiming to create an operating system entirely based on free software.

On January 1, 1985, Richard Stallman published the GNU Manifesto, outlining the goals and philosophy of the GNU Project.

Richard Stallman left MIT to dedicate his time fully to working on the GNU project.

On October 1, 1985, Richard Stallman founded the Free Software Foundation to support the development of free software and promote users' freedom.

Richard Stallman officially founded the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as a non-profit organization to support the free software movement.

In 1986, Richard Stallman was awarded Honorary life time membership in the Chalmers Computer Society.

On January 1, 1988, Richard Stallman called for a boycott of Apple products due to their restrictive software policies.

On January 1, 1989, the first version of the GNU General Public License (GPL) was released, providing a legal framework for free software distribution.

The first independent GNU General Public License (GPL) was released, marking a significant milestone in the free software movement.

Richard Stallman pioneered the concept of copyleft and is the main author of several copyleft licenses including the GNU General Public License, the most widely used free software license.

Linus Torvalds, a Finnish student, introduced the Linux kernel to the GNU project, providing a solution to the challenges faced by the Free Software movement with the Hurd kernel.

Richard Stallman initially hesitated to use Linux due to its limitations, but later recognized its advantages and replaced Hurd with Linux as the kernel of the GNU operating system.

In 1994, the GNU/Linux operating system was born from the combination of Richard Stallman's GNU utilities and the kernel developed by Linus Torvalds. This collaboration led to the development of a widely used open-source operating system.

In 1996, Richard Stallman received an honorary doctorate from Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology for his exceptional contributions to the development of the extensible editor EMACS.

In 1998, Richard Stallman was honored with the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Pioneer award for his pioneering work in the development of the extensible editor EMACS.

In 1999, Richard Stallman called for the development of a free online encyclopedia by inviting the public to contribute.

In 2001, Richard Stallman received The Takeda Techno-Entrepreneurship Award for Social/Economic Well-Being, acknowledging his innovative and impactful contributions to technology and entrepreneurship.

In 2002, Richard Stallman became a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering, highlighting his significant contributions to the field of engineering and technology.

Starting around 2003, Richard Stallman began using the term GNU+Linux to prevent others from mispronouncing the phrase GNU/Linux, which would erroneously imply that the kernel Linux is maintained by the GNU project.

In 2004, Richard Stallman was appointed an honorary professor at the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería del Perú.

In April 2006, Richard Stallman protested against proprietary software by holding a placard at an ATI event, criticizing ATI as an 'enemy of freedom'. This action led to police intervention and subsequent steps taken by AMD, which later acquired ATI, to make their hardware documentation available for the free software community.

During the public consultation for the GNU GPL Version 3 in 2006 and 2007, Stallman actively campaigned for the proposed changes, emphasizing software freedom and community rights.

In August 2006, Richard Stallman successfully persuaded officials in the Indian State of Kerala to replace proprietary software with free software in state-run schools, leading to a significant decision to switch all school computers to a free software operating system.

On October 19, 2007, Richard Stallman assisted the International Music Score Library Project in getting back online after it was taken down following a cease and desist letter from Universal Edition.

In 2008, the individual received a Doctorate honoris causa from the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo in Peru.

In 2009, the individual received a Doctor of Science honoris causa from Lakehead University in Canada.

In February 2011, Richard Stallman resigned from the Advisory Council of Latin American television station teleSUR, citing criticism of pro-Gaddafi propaganda during the Arab Spring.

In 2012, Richard Stallman was appointed an honorary professor at the Universidad César Vallejo de Trujillo.

In 2013, Richard Stallman was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame for his contributions to the Free Software Movement and the development of the GNU operating system.

Richard Stallman received an honorary doctorate from Concordia University in 2014.

In 2015, Richard M. Stallman published the third edition of his book 'Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman' which contains a collection of his essays advocating for free software.

In 2016, Richard Stallman received the Association for Computing's Software and Systems Award for the development of GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection.

In 2017, Richard Stallman received a Doctorate honoris causa from the Universidad Nacional de Jujuy in Argentina.

In 2018, Richard Stallman received a Doctorate honoris causa from the Universidad de Tucumán in Argentina.

Richard Stallman, a prominent figure in the tech community, faced backlash for his comments on Marvin Minsky's involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein case. Stallman's remarks stirred controversy and calls for his resignation from MIT.

On September 14, 2019, Richard Stallman publicly acknowledged a shift in his views on child sexuality, stating that he had come to understand the harm caused by sex with a child. This acknowledgment followed criticism of his past writings advocating for the legalization of child pornography.

On September 16, 2019, Richard Stallman announced his resignation from both MIT and FSF due to pressure and misunderstandings regarding his comments on Jeffrey Epstein. He clarified that he did not defend Epstein and expressed regret for the hurt caused by the misinterpretation.

On April 12, 2021, the FSF board re-affirmed its decision to bring back Richard Stallman despite the controversy surrounding his return. Stallman issued a statement addressing his social skills and apologizing for any misunderstandings.

In September 2023, during the GNU 40th anniversary event, Stallman revealed that he had been diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, a form of cancer. He expressed optimism about his prognosis and future.