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1984: Michael Dell founds Dell Computer Corp.

1988: Dell holds initial public offering of 3.5 million shares of company stock.

1996: Dell is added to Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index.

1999: Dell opens a plant in Nashville, Tenn.

June 2004: Speculation begins about the possibility of a Dell expansion in the Piedmont.

July 2004: Kevin Rollins becomes Dell’s new chief executive officer. The Golden LEAF Foundation releases recruitment package plan to lure Dell to Winston-Salem.

Nov. 4, 2004: A bundle of tax incentives, worth at least $242.5 million over 15 years, clears the N.C. legislature.

Nov. 9, 2004: Dell chooses the Triad as the location for its third U.S. factory. Guilford and Forsyth counties are possible sites, with 1,500 workers employed within five years. Gov. Mike Easley and Rollins shake hands to seal the deal. Local governments begin to craft incentives.

Nov. 19, 2004: Guilford lays out its offer of $7.1 million in incentives.

Dec. 7, 2004: The Greensboro City Council votes to offer $5.3 million in cash grants and other incentives.

Dec. 13, 2004: Forsyth County passes largest economic incentives package in county history, offering $14.8 million in cash and services.

Dec. 14, 2004: Davidson County approves a $23.1 million incentives package.

Dec. 20, 2004: The Winston-Salem City Council approves an $18.9 million package. Combined with the Forsyth County offer and free land, the total package is $37.2 million.

Dec. 22, 2004: Dell selects Forsyth County site for the plant. Dell receives an incentive package from the the N.C. General Assembly with up to $225 million in tax credits spanning 15 years. In return, the company is expected to create at least 1,500 jobs and invest $100 million over five years. Total incentive deal from local and state is more than $300 million.

June 2005: Robert Orr, a former N.C. Supreme Court justice and the head of nonprofit N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, files a lawsuit challenging the $242 million in incentives approved by the N.C. General Assembly and the $37 million offered by Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

May 10, 2006: Wake Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood dismisses incentives lawsuit.

January 2009: Dell agrees to a legal settlement with states that said the computer company made misleading financing and service offers to PC buyers. Dell agrees to pay $3.85 million to North Carolina and at least 44 other states participating in the settlement. A portion of the money will be used to reimburse states for legal costs, including $75,000 for North Carolina.

February 2009: Dell announces plans to cut $4 billion in annual costs by the end of fiscal 2011, $1 billion more than its earlier goal. Layoffs are announced for the computer assembly plant in Forsyth County, but Dell officials declined to describe the positions or say how many people would be laid off.

April 2, 2009: Dell announces additional layoffs at its Forsyth County computer assembly plant but refuses to say how many people lost their jobs.

May 11, 2009: Frank Miller, Dell’s vice president for operations in the Americas, tells the Winston-Salem City Council that Dell now employs 1,140 people, 260 fewer than it did in January.

Oct 7, 2009: Dell announces plans to close its manufacturing plant in Winston-Salem by January 2010.