1922-Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was born to Kurt Vonnegut Sr. and Edith Lieber in Indianapolis, Indiana
1940-He graduated from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis where he was editor of the
          school newspaper
1940-Vonnegut went to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York to study Biochemistry; while
          attending he wrote for the Cornell Sun
1942-He joined the United States Army as an infantry battalion scout; he trained as a mechanical
          engineer at Carnegie Institute and at the University of Tennessee
1944-May 14, Edith Lieber Vonnegut, his mother, commits suicide later in December of that
           year Kurt is captured in the battle of the Bulge
1945-He is sent to Dresden, Germany to work in a factory that produced vitamins for pregnant
           women where on February 13 he survives the famous Firebombing attack by the United
           States and Royal Air Forces. On May 22 he is rescued by the Russians.  This experience
           becomes the basis for Slaughterhouse Five published in 1969.  He returns home and
           marries childhood friend Jane Marie Cox in September.
1945 through 1947- Vonnegut worked as a police reporter for the Chicago News Bureau and
         studied Anthropology at Chicago University where his MA thesis 'Fluctuations Between
         Good and Evil in Simple Tales' was rejected.
1947-Son Mark born, Vonnegut also worked as a publicist for General Electric in
           Schenectady, NY
1949-Daughter Edith Born
1950-Quit GE and moved to Cape Cod to write, in the February 11 edition of Colliers Kurt's
           first short story was published.
1952-Player Piano, his first novel, was published
1954-His daughter Nanette was born and "Utopia- 14", a retitled edition of  "Player Piano", was
          published.
1954 through 1956-During this time Vonnegut taught English at the Hopefield School, worked
          for an ad agency,  and started the first Saab dealership in the United States.
1957- October First, Kurt Vonnegut Sr. dies
1958- Sister and Brother-in-law die, Kurt and Jane adopt the three oldest children
1959- His novel "The Sirens of Titan" is published.
1961- "Canary in a Cat House", a collection of short stories, is published.
1962- "Mother Night" is published
1963- "Cat's Cradle" another novel is published
1965- "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" or "Pearls Before Swine" is published, and Kurt starts
            residency at University of Iowa Writers Workshop.
1967- Vonnegut journeys back to Dresden, Germany to research Slaughterhouse Five on a
            Guggenheim Fellowship.
1968- His second short story collection "Welcome to the Monkey House" is published
1969- "Slaughterhouse Five" is published, this novel later becomes one Vonneguts definitive
            works.
1970- Kurt teaches Creative writing at Harvard and writes "Happy Birthday Wanda June" for
           Broadway.
1971- The University of Chicago awards Vonnegut a Master's degree for "Cat's Cradle", and he
            moves to New York City.
1972- His son Mark suffers a schizophrenic breakdown that becomes the basis for "The Eden
           Express".  Also "Between Time and Timbuktu or Prometheus-5" is published and
           "Slaughterhouse-Five" is produced as a movie.
1973- Appointed Distinguished Professor of English Prose by City University of New York;
           "Breakfast of Champions" is published.
1974- Vonnegut is awarded honorary doctorate of literature by Hobart and William Smith
           College.  He also gets a collection of essays and speeches entitled "Wampeters, Foma
           &Granfalloons" published.
1976- "Slapstick; Or, Lonesome No More" is published
1977- Grandchild Zachary is born.
1979- Divorces Jane, wife of 34 years, and marries Jill Kremetz on November 24.  Also this year
          "Jailbird" is published.
1980- Exhibition of his drawings goes up, and a children's story "Sun Moon Star" is published.
1981- "Palm Sunday" is published, this is an autobiography
1982- "Deadeye Dick" is published
1984- Vonnegut attempts suicide
1985- His novel "Galapagos" published
1986- Speaks at Coalition Against Censorship briefing for Attorney General's Commission on
           Pornography hearing
1987- "Bluebeard" is published
1990- "Hocus Pocus" is published
1991- Vonnegut files for divorce with Jill Kremetz in June but the petition is later withdrawn. The work "Fates Worse than Death: An
            Autobiographical Collage of the 1980's" is published.
1994 or 1997- "Timequake" is published (I found both dates as the publication date)
1999- "Bagombo Snuff Box" published

Fairly Complete Works of Kurt Vonnegut

Novels
Player Piano 1952
The Sirens of Titan 1959
Mother Night 1961
Cat's Cradle 1963
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater 1965
Slaughterhouse - Five 1969
Breakfast of Champions 1973
Slapstick 1976
Jailbird 1976
Deadeye Dick 1982
Galapagos 1985
Bluebeard 1987
Hocus Pocus 1989
Timequake 1997

Short Story Collections
Canary in a Cat House 1961
Welcome to the Monkey House 1968
Bagombo Snuff Box 1999

Scripts
Happy Birthday, Wanda June 1971
Between Time and Timbuktu 1972

Misc. Writings
Wampeters, Foma, and Granfalloons 1974
Palm Sunday 1981
Fates Worse Than Death 1991
 

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is an American author who was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, whose wide range of experience helped him to utilize an inborn talent for dark humor and satiric criticism.  After his capture during the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, he survived the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, which resulted in more deaths than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, as a Nazi POW.  This experience later fired his masterpiece "Slaughterhouse Five".  Vonnegut was deeply anti-automation, as he feared that with nothing to do man would lose his sense of worth.  This mentality was brought out in his first novel, "Player Piano" where America is run by Engineers and Managers, but is plagued with uprisings of individuals who feel that machines are dehumanizing.  Vonnegut married, divorced and remarried.  In 1999 he fell victim to a fire in his apartment that placed him in intensive care for smoke inhalation.  Vonnegut wrote 14 novels, a few short stories, and other literature that is listed above.  He was truly one of the great American writers and if he were to take the test of time he would surely pass it as his works speak on a deep universal level. - Keil