1922: Drew graduates from Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., and enrolls at Amherst College in Massachusetts.
1926: Drew graduates from Amherst College with a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology.
1928: Drew enrolls at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.
1933: Drew earns his Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School and completes a residency in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital.
1935: Drew begins a fellowship in pathology at Columbia University's Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
1936: Drew begins a fellowship in surgery at Columbia University's Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
1937: Drew establishes the first blood bank at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
1939: Drew becomes the first African American to earn a doctorate in medical science from Columbia University.
1940: Drew is appointed as the director of the American Red Cross's blood bank program.
1941: Drew leads the development of a mobile blood collection unit for the American Red Cross.
1943: Drew resigns from the American Red Cross in protest of its policy of segregating blood donations by race.
1944: Drew becomes the director of the Howard University Medical School's Department of Surgery.
1950: Drew dies in a car accident in North Carolina.
1951: The Charles Drew Medal for Outstanding Contributions in Blood Banking is established by the American Association of Blood Banks.
1980: Drew is inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.
2002: Drew is honored with a U.S. postage stamp.