n 1999: Carroll receives a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

n 2002: Carroll moves to Jordan six months before the war starts in March 2003 “to learn as much about the region as possible before the fighting began.” She was laid off as a reporting assistant for The Wall Street Journal before heading overseas.

n Jan. 7, 2006: Carroll is kidnapped from one of Baghdad’s most dangerous Sunni Arab neighborhoods. Her translator is shot dead by her captors.

n Jan. 17: Al-Jazeera TV airs a silent 20-second video of Carroll. An accompanying message gave the United States until Jan. 20 to free female prisoners in Iraq or Carroll would be killed.

n Jan. 19: Carroll’s mother appeals for her daughter’s release hours before her captor’s deadline to kill her.

n Jan. 20: The Sunni Arab politician Carroll had traveled to interview when she was abducted, Adnan al-Dulaimi, appeals for Carroll’s release. The deadline set by her captors to kill her passes.

n Jan. 26: The U.S. military says it would release five Iraqi women detainees, but U.S. officials say the release has nothing to do with the captors’ demand. Several other Iraqi women remain jailed.

n Jan. 30: Weeping and wearing an Islamic veil, Carroll again appears on a video aired by Al-Jazeera, which does not play clear audio but reports that Carroll appeals for authorities to free all women prisoners in Iraq to help in winning her release.

n Feb. 7: French film star Juliette Binoche joins dozens of demonstrators in Paris calling for Carroll’s release.

n Feb. 9: Carroll appears in a video dated Feb. 2 aired on a private Kuwaiti TV channel. Speaking in a strong voice, Carroll says: “I sent you a letter written by my hand, but you wanted more evidence. I am here. I am fine. Please just do whatever they want, give them whatever they want as quickly as possible. There is a very short time. Please do it fast. That’s all.”

n March 30: Jill Carroll is freed. Monitor editor David Cook says she has spoken with her father and is “fine.”

April 2: Carroll returns to the United States aboard a flight from Frankfurt, German to Boston’s Logan International Airport.