1988: The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, James Iha, D'Arcy Wretzky and Jimmy Chamberlin play their first show as a four-piece rock band, at Metro.
1989: The quartet's debut single, "I Am One," is released.
1990: Seattle inde-rock label Sub Pop releases Pumpkins' "Tristessa" as single of the month.
1991: Pumpkins' debut album, "Gish," is released, instantly splashing some new psychedelic colors on the emerging alternative-rock movement. Later they tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and another rising band, Pearl Jam, and command the stage at their biggest hometown show yet, at the Aragon Ballroom.
1992: "Drown" appears on the soundtrack for Cameron Crowe's grunge-era romantic comedy "Singles."
1993: "Siamese Dream" is released, debuts in the Top 10 and goes on to sell more than 4 million copies in the U.S. The record's dense multitracked guitars and Corgan's introspective lyrics make it an alternative-rock landmark.
1994: Pumpkins headline Lollapalooza tour, succeeding Jane's Addiction, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Alice in Chains. Later, the rarities collection "Pisces Iscariot" is released.
1995: "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" is released, a two-disc rock opera that stands as one of the decade's defining albums. It is honored as album of the year in Time, Rolling Stone and Spin and goes on to sell 11 million worldwide.
1996: The band fires Chamberlin for drug abuse, soon after touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin dies of a heroin overdose in a New York City hotel room. Later, the band releases "The Aeroplane Flies High" box set, containing tracks recording during the "Mellon Collie" sessions.
1997: "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" receives a Grammy Award for best hard-rock performance.
1998: "Adore" is released. The album's low-key introspection and spiritual bent represent creative growth, but sales are sluggish compared to earlier releases. A subsequent tour raises more than $2 million for North American charities. Band wins second hard-rock Grammy, for "The End is the Beginning is the End."
1999: Chamberlin is back on drums for a brief tour of North American clubs. After the reunited band records its final albums, Wretzky departs and is replaced on bass by Melissa Auf Der Maur, formerly of Hole.
2000:
"Machina/The Machines of God" is released, the band's final album for Virgin
Records, and is followed by "Machina II: The Friends and Enemies of Modern
Music," which is made available for free download on the Internet. The
band announces it will play its final show Dec. 2 at Metro.