1790 - enrolled in Edinburgh University. 1794 - received his undergraduate degree. 1798 - given the license to preach. 1802 - unable to find a permanent position in Scotland, left for London. 1806 - the birth of his first child, the philosopher, John Stuart Mill. 1806 - began writing the monumental History of British India. 1819 - appointed assistant (later chief) examiner of correspondence at the British East India Company. 1820 - published his Essay on Government. 1822 - suffered the first of many debilitating attacks of gout. 1824 - launched the Westminster Review. 1826 - was a moving force in the founding of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.