Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock...

By DAVID VAN BIEMA

1995

--MAY Lewinsky graduates Lewis & Clark College

--JUNE Lewinsky leaves for unpaid White House internship; allegedly jokes to Andrew Bleiler (who claims to have been a longtime lover), "I'm going to the White House to get my presidential knee pads"

--NOVEMBER-DECEMBER Meets Clinton at White House party. If her alleged statements on tape are true, she wears revealing outfit, they flirt, and (she claims) they commence extended affair. Is hired as paid White House staff member

1996

--APRIL Lewinsky shipped to Pentagon. Befriends Linda Tripp, an aide in the same office

--NOVEMBER Clinton re-elected. Now famous video captures him hugging beret-clad Lewinsky at reception on White House lawn

1997

--MAY Supreme Court rejects Clinton's request for delay in Paula Jones case

--AUGUST-DECEMBER On the advice of Lucianne Goldberg, Tripp buys recorder and starts taping confidential conversations with Lewinsky. Topic: alleged affair with Clinton

--EARLY OCTOBER Rutherford Institute, funding Jones' suit, receives first of three anonymous phone tips alleging a Lewinsky-Clinton affair

--OCTOBER Lewinsky, restless, seeks new job. She rejects an offer from U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson

--OCTOBER-DECEMBER Lewinsky is referred to Vernon Jordan for job advice. Also, she sends multiple packages to White House from Pentagon

--DEC. 5 Jones' lawyers, acting on the anonymous tips, inform Clinton's lawyers they want to depose Lewinsky

--DEC. 8-10 On Lewinsky's behalf, Jordan makes calls to American Express and the CEO of advertising giant Young & Rubicam. Immediately afterward, Lewinsky sends letter of application to Burson-Marsteller, a Y&R subsidiary

--DEC. 17 Lewinsky receives a call from Thomas Schick, American Express's vice president for corporate affairs; they arrange to meet

--DEC. 18 Her testimony postponed, she interviews at Burson-Marsteller in New York City

--DEC. 23 She interviews at American Express. She is not hired

--DEC. 26 Despite her unclear employment prospects, she leaves Pentagon job

--JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS Tripp, who like Lewinsky has been subpoenaed, tells her she intends to expose the alleged affair. They discuss Tripp's having a fake "foot accident" to avoid testifying. (At some point, a source tells TIME, Lewinsky even offers Tripp a financial interest in an Australian condo she owns if Tripp will keep quiet)

--DEC. 28 Lewinsky meets with Clinton in the White House. Betty Currie, his secretary, joins them, sources say. The New York Times reports that he advises her to explain earlier meetings as visits to see Currie, and urges her to go to New York City

--DEC. 30 Back in New York, Lewinsky takes writing test at Burson-Marsteller, but does badly and sends ungrammatical thank-you note

1998

--JAN. 7 Jordan recommends lawyer Frank Carter to Lewinsky and drives her to Carter's office. Lewinsky signs affidavit in the Jones case reportedly denying an affair with Clinton. But according to the Wall Street Journal...

--JAN. 8-11 ...she refuses to file it until Jordan finds her a job. Jordan calls Revlon, on whose board he sits, and within a week the corporation offers her a New York position

--JAN. 12 Tripp alerts Starr's office to her 20 hours of Lewinsky tapes and alleged Clinton-Lewinsky affair. Tripp alleges that Lewinsky told her Clinton and Jordan urged the ex-intern to lie

--JAN. 13 At the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in suburban Virginia, Tripp guides Lewinsky through the whole history of the alleged affair, as the FBI and Starr's people listen via a wire

--JAN. 14 Driving Tripp home from work, Lewinsky allegedly hands her "talking points" encouraging her to lie under oath

--JAN. 16 Lewinsky meets again with Tripp at the Ritz-Carlton, but is ambushed. Janet Reno and a three-judge panel have expanded Starr's investigation. His men swoop down on Lewinsky. Carter files the affidavit. Lewinsky fires Carter

--JAN. 17 In a six-hour deposition by Jones' lawyer, Clinton denies affair with Lewinsky

--JAN. 21 Story breaks publicly. Lewinsky's new lawyer, William Ginsburg, begins negotiations with Starr on a testimony-for-immunity deal. Clinton denies Lewinsky relationship on TV

--JAN. 29 Judge in Paula Jones case bars Lewinsky-related evidence, which may prevent Starr from pursuing some perjury charges

--JAN. 30 Tripp releases statement that she listened to Lewinsky's side of a phone conversation with Clinton and saw presents he gave her. Ginsburg denies Tripp's claims. He speculates that Starr may seek a court order to compel Lewinsky's testimony

--Written by David Van Biema