This document provides a detailed timeline of Oprah Winfrey's life and career. It outlines that she was born into poverty in 1954 in Mississippi and faced abuse and hardship as a child. However, she became a successful talk show host and founded Harpo Productions. The timeline traces her path from her early life through her influential media career spanning television, film, publishing, and philanthropy. It describes her rise to becoming the richest African American of the 20th century and one of the most influential people in the world.

1. Mariah Martin
March 20th, 2012
Sports Marketing

2.  I chose Oprah because she is a very successful women.
She is a media proprietor, host, actress, producer, and
philanthropist.
 She is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-
winning talk show.
 Her show become the highest rated program of its kind
in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to
2011.
 She is the richest African American of the 20th century
 She is also the greatest black philanthropist in
American history.
 She was also the world's only black billionaire.
 She is also considered the most influential woman in
the world.

3.  Age, birthday, hometown, etc.
 She was born on January 29, 1954
 She was born into a poor family in Mississippi
to a teenage single mother.
 They later moved to Milwaukee.
 She had a very hard childhood.
 At 9, she was raped.
 At 14, she became pregnant, though her son
died in infancy.

4.  1954- She was born on January 29, 1954
 1954-1960 – she was raised on a farm by her grandmother.
1960-1968- Moved from Milwaukee to live with her
mother, stepsister and stepbrother in Mississippi. She later
revealed that while she was there she was abused and raped
by her cousin, uncle, and a family friend
 1968- Oprah ran away from home and then was sent to a
juvenile detention center.
 1968- She gave birth to a premature baby boy. He died soon
after he was born.
 1969- She became an honors student and graduated from
East Nashville High School
 1970- Got a scholarship to Tennessee State University based
on her communication skills and worked at the WVOL local
radio station while still going to school.

5.  1971- She was in a pageant and won the title of Miss Black Tennessee and
Miss Fire Prevention.
 1973- She graduated from Tennessee State University with a Degree in
Speech and Performing Arts.
 1976- Moved to Baltimore to host the 6 o’clock news with WJZ-TV.
 1978- Was moved from news anchor to the WJZ-TV morning talk show
host of People are Talking with Richard Sher.
 1983- Moved to Chicago, Illinois to host the talk show A.M. Chicago for
WLS-TV
 1986- She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actress in 'The Color Purple' but lost to Anjelica Huston.
 1986- She formed her own television production company called Harpo
Productions
 1986- She received the National Organization for Women's Women of
Achievement Award.
 1986- She starred in the movie 'Native Son' as Janet Thomason
 1987 She her first Emmy for best talk/service show host and best show.
 1988 Named Broadcaster of the Year.

6.  1989- She starred as Mattie Michael in the movie The Women of
Brewster Place (she was also executive producer)
 1989- She received the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People's Entertainer of the year award and their Image
Award 4 times from 1989 to 1992
 1989- Her half brother, Jeffrey Lee, died of AIDS.
 1991- Got the National Child Protection Act and testified before
Congress Appointed chef Rosie Daley to supervise a new and
healthier diet.
 1992- She won Best Talk Show Host at the Daytime Emmy
Awards in 1992.
 1992- Appeared on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
 1992- She met her soon-to-be husband and got engaged to
Stedman Graham.

7.  1993- Hosted an interview with Michael Jackson which reached an
audience of one hundred million.
 1993- President Bill Clinton signed the National Child Protection Act.
 1993- She appeared in the TV program There Are No Children Here role
as LaJoe Rivers .
 1994- She won Best Talk Show and Best Talk Show Host at the 21st
Annual Daytime Emmy Awards .
 1994- She became co-author of the book In The Kitchen With Rosie:
Oprah's Favorite Recipes by Rosie Daley and Oprah Winfrey
 1995- She became the first woman and the only black on Forbes list of 400
richest Americans. (She is still the only black person to rank among
America's 400 richest people)
 1995- She won an Emmy for Best Talk Show and Best Host for the second
year in a row.
 1996- She became co-author of the book A Journal of Daily Renewal : The
Companion to Make the Connection, by Bob Greene and Oprah Winfrey

8.  1996- Appeared in the TV program Before Women Had Wings role as Miss Zora (she was also
producer)
 1996- Author of the book The Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey : A Portrait in Her Own
Words by Bill Adler (editor) and Oprah Winfrey
 1998- She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmy Awards and an
award for top talk show host.
 1998- Formed Oxygen Media.
 1998- Starred in the movie of the Toni Morrison.
 1998- She became co-author of the book Journey to Beloved, by Oprah Winfrey and Ken Regan
 1999- She became co-author of the book Make the Connection : Ten Steps to a Better Body and
a Better Life, by Bob Greene and Oprah Winfrey
 2002- She became the recipient of the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Emmy
Awards for services to television and film.
 2003- She was the narrator in the documentary Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave
Narratives
 2004 The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Concert was hosted by Oprah and Tom Cruise Forbes'
international rich list has listed Winfrey as the world's only black billionaire
 2004- She was named by Time as one of the 100 people who most influenced the 20th century
 2005- The Color Purple was made into a Broadway musical of which she was a producer
Forbes' international rich list has listed Winfrey as the world's only black billionaire.
 2005- She became the first black listed by Business Week as one of America's top 50 most
generous philanthropists.

9.  2005- She was named by Time as one of
the 100 most influential people of the year
 2005- She was named as the greatest
woman in American history as part of a
public poll as part of The Greatest
American, which she ranked in 9th place
in the list of greatest Americans.
 2006- She signed 3-year contract with XM
Satellite Radio to establish a new radio
channel based in Chicago Forbes'



10.  She has written many books, started many
radio shows, started her own tv show, and
started her own television network.
 Chairwoman and CEO of Harpo Productions
 Chairwoman, CEO, and CCO of the Oprah
Winfrey Network

11.  She grew up very poor, she had a child young,
which died shortly after birth, she was abused
and raped as a child.

12.  She is strong, independent, generous,
influential, smart, encouraging, self-motivated,
and powerful.
 She is also one of the few stars that even
though they are rich, they know where they
came from and they use there money to help
out the world.

13.  In conclusion, I feel that Oprah Winfrey is one
of the very few stars that will never forget their
past or where they were before being famous. I
think she is a very strong, independent,
generous, influential, smart, encouraging, self-
motivated, and powerful person. She deserves
to be where she is today.

14. http://www.history-timelines.org.uk/people-
timelines/05-oprah-winfrey-timeline.htm
http://www.oprah.com/index.html