January 26, 2011 | Theatre,

Keeping Up With The Kennedys

1941: Without consulting Rose, Joe Sr. arranges for Rosemary to have a frontal lobotomy. The operation leaves their daughter in worse condition, and she is institutionalized for the rest of her life.

1941: Jack Kennedy begins an affair with Inga Arvad, a married Dane falsely suspected of being a Nazi spy. The FBI monitors the relationship.

September, 1941: At age 24, Jack is sworn in as an ensign in the U.S. Navy.    
   
August 3, 1943: While on active duty in Blackett Strait, North Solomon Islands in the Pacific, Jack’s PT-109 is sunk by the Japanese. He performs heroically in rescuing his crew.        

May 6, 1944: Kathleen marries a British lord, William Cavendish.

June 11, 1944: Jack is awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and Purple Heart for his actions while in command of PT-109.        

August 12, 1944: Joe Kennedy Jr. is killed when his Air Force plane explodes shortly after take-off.

September 9, 1944: William Cavendish is killed in battle against the Germans. Kathleen Kennedy is widowed after only four months of marriage.
   
November 5, 1946: Jack is elected as a U.S. representative for the 11th Congressional District in Boston at age 29. He is re-elected in 1948 and 1950.    

Fall, 1947: Jack becomes ill in London. He is diagnosed with Addison’s disease, a hormonal disorder that causes fatigue and compromises the immune system.

May 13, 1948: Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish dies in a plane crash in France at the age of 28.

1950: John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, Rose’s father, dies.

June 17, 1950: Robert Kennedy marries Ethel Skakel.

1951: Rose has the rare title of papal countess conferred on her from the Vatican in recognition of her “exemplary motherhood and many charitable works.”

May, 1951: Ted Kennedy is caught cheating on an exam and is expelled from Harvard.

July 4, 1951: Kathleen Hartington Kennedy is born to Robert and Ethel Skakel. She is Joe and Rose’s first grandchild. Robert and Ethel will have 10 more children.

November 4, 1952: JFK is elected as senator from Massachusetts and re-elected in 1958.