| 1882 | Zoltán Kodály is born in Kecskemét on 16 December. |
| 1892-1900 | Earliest compositions. |
| 1900 | Compositional studies at the Liszt Music Academy and academic studies at the Eötvös College and at the Péter Pázmány University (autumn). |
| 1904 | Trips to Bayreuth, Munich and Salzburg. |
| 1905 | Meets first wife Emma Schlesinger and Béla Bartók. First expedition to collect folk-songs. |
| 1906 | Doctoral dissertation: The Strophic Structure of Hungarian Folk-Songs. Debut of Summer Evening (22 October). In collaboration with Bartók, his Hungarian Folk-Songs appears (December). |
| 1906-1907 | Studies in Berlin and Paris. |
| 1907 | Professor of theory and composition at the Music Academy in Budapest (autumn). |
| 1908 | Trips to Switzerland and Italy. |
| 1910 | First composer's evening in Budapest (17 March). Debut of First String Quartet Op. 2, Piano music Op. 3, Sonata for violoncello and piano Op. 4, etc. (Zurich, 29 May). Marriage to Emma Schlesinger (3 August). First folksong-collecting trip to Transylvania (summer). |
| 1914 | Finishes his Duo for Violin and Cello Op. 7. |
| 1915 | Solo Sonata for Cello Op. 8. |
| 1916 | Completion of the song-cycle Seven Songs (Late Melodies) Op. 6. |
| 1917-1919 | Active as a music critic. |
| 1918 | Second composer's evening in Budapest (7 May). First performances of Duo Op. 7, Solo Sonata Op. 8, song cycle Verspätete Melodien Op. 6, 2nd String Quartet Op. 10. |
| 1919 | Assistant director of the Music Academy (February). Suspended; disciplinary hearings initiated. |
| 1920 | Successfully refutes the investigatory commission's accusations. |
| 1921 | Teaches once again at the Music Academy (September). World premiere of Two Songs Op. 5 |
| 1923 | World premiere of Psalmus Hungaricus Op. 13 (19 November). Concerts marking the 50th anniversary of the union of the cities of Buda and Pest . |
| 1925 | First performance of choral works for children (2 April). |
| 1926 | First foreign performance of Psalmus Hungaricus in Zurich (18 June). First performance of Háry János at the Budapest Opera House (16 October). |
| 1927 | Premiere of the Háry Suite in Barcelona (24 March). Debut as conductor, leading Psalmus Hungaricus in Amsterdam (20 April). First trip to England (December). |
| 1929 | Children's Choirs - a study in which he first formulates his pedagogic principles. |
| 1930 | His first visit to his birthplace (March). Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic perform Summer Evening (3 April). Lecturer at Péter Pázmány University (Autumn). Fritz Busch premieres the orchestral version of Dances of Marosszék in Dresden (28 November). Finishes Mátra Pictures for mixed choir. |
| 1932 | Premiere of Spinning Room at the Budapest Opera House (24 April). Celebratory concerts marking his 50th birthday (December). |
| 1933 | Dances of Galánta first performed in Budapest (23 October). |
| 1934 | Member of National Literary and Artistic Committee. Finishes Jesus and the Traders, with biblical text. |
| 1936 | Premiere of his Te Deum in St. Matthias Church (2 September). |
| 1937 | Hungarian Folk Music appears - also published in numerous foreign languages. |
| 1939 | Mengelberg conducts the Peacock Variations in Amsterdam (23 November). |
| 1941 | The Chicago Symphony Orchestra premieres his Concerto (6 February). |
| 1943 | Elected associate member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and Sciences (14 May). |
| 1945 | Premiere of Missa Brevis in the cloakroom of the Budapest Opera House, while the city is still under siege (11 February). |
| 1946 | Named as president of the Hungarian Artistic Committee (16 January). |
| 1946-1947 | First trip to America. Conducts numerous concerts featuring his own works. Guest trips to England, the Soviet Union. |
| 1947 | Awarded the title of honorary citizen of Kecskemét. First trip to the Soviet Union. |
| 1947-1950 | President of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and Sciences. |
| 1950 | Forms the ethnomusicological branch of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and Sciences. |
| 1951 | Debut performance of Kálló Folk-Dances with the State Folk Ensemble (April). First volume of the Archive of Hungarian Folk Music appears (November). |
| 1954 | Emma suffers a broken leg; Kodály moves into the hospital with her (23 August). |
| 1955 | Radio performance of Bartók's complete works for piano (1 January). Premiere of the Hymn of Zrínyi at the Music Academy (18 December). |
| 1955-1956 | Leader of festivals to celebrate Bartók. |
| 1956 | Leaves Budapest upon the outbreak of the Hungarian Uprising (around 20 October). |
| 1957 | Returns to Budapest (8 January). Calls for amnesty for those condemned on account of taking part in the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. In honour of his 75th birthday he receives an honorary doctorate from the University of Budapest. |
| 1958 | Member of the Belgian Academy of Sciences. After 49 years of marriage to Kodály, Emma dies (22 November). |
| 1959 | Marries Sarolta Péczely (18 December). |
| 1960 | Visits England. Receives an honorary doctorate from Oxford (April-June). Supervises the recording of his works (summer). Taken to hospital after suffering a heart attack (1 December). |
| 1961 | Elected president of the International Folk-Music Committee in Quebec (August). At the Lucerne Festival, the Symphony is performed in his presence (16 August). |
| 1962 | Kodály's 80th birthday. Large-scale celebrations in Budapest and across the world (December). |
| 1964 | Gives speech at the dedication ceremony of the new building of the Kecskemét Music Primary School. Elected honorary president during the Budapest conference of the International Society for Musical Education (June-July). His pedagogical methods reach the world at large. |
| 1965 | Receives the Herder Prize in Vienna (April). Second trip to the United States (July-August). |
| 1966 | Premiere of his last completed work, Laudes Organi, in Atlanta (June). |
| 1967 | Dies from a heart attack (6:45 AM, 6 March). |