June 17, 1972

Five men are arrested at 2:30 a.m. trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate hotel and office complex.

June 19, 1972

The Washington Post reports a GOP security aide was among the Watergate burglars. Former attorney general John Mitchell, head of President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign, denies any link to the operation.

Oct. 10, 1972

The Washington Post reports FBI agents established that the Watergate break-in stemmed from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage conducted on behalf of the Nixon re-election effort.

Nov. 7, 1972

Nixon is re-elected in one of the largest landslides in American political history.

Jan. 30, 1973

Former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. are convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping in the Watergate incident. Five other men plead guilty, but mysteries remain.

April 30, 1973

Nixon's top White House staffers, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General

Richard Kleindienst resign over the scandal. White House counsel John Dean is fired.

May 18, 1973

The Senate Watergate Committee begins its nationally televised hearings. Attorney General-designate Elliot Richardson taps former solicitor general Archibald Cox as the Justice Department's special prosecutor for Watergate.

June 3, 1973

The Washington Post reports John Dean has told investigators that he discussed the Watergate cover-up with President Nixon at least 35 times.

July 23, 1973

Nixon refuses to turn over presidential tape recordings to the Senate Watergate Committee or the special prosecutor.

Oct. 20, 1973

Saturday Night Massacre: Nixon fires Archibald Cox and abolishes the office of the special prosecutor. Attorney General

Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus resign. Pressure for impeachment mounts in Congress.

Nov. 17, 1973

Nixon declares, "I'm not a crook," maintaining his innocence in the Watergate case.

Dec. 7, 1973

The White House can't explain an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the subpoenaed tapes.