WASHINGTON, Dec 3 — Here are 10 key dates in the life of George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States who died Friday at the age of 94:

- June 12, 1924: George Herbert Walker Bush is born in Milton,  Massachusetts

- June 12, 1942: Bush enlists in the US Navy on his 18th birthday, and becomes its youngest pilot, flying 58 combat missions in a torpedo bomber during World War II. He is shot down over the Pacific and rescued at sea

-  January 6, 1945: Following his discharge from the Navy, Bush marries Barbara Pierce. They have six children: George Walker, Robin (who died at the age of four), John (also known as Jeb), Neil, Marvin and Dorothy

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- 1953: Bush co-founds the Zapata Petroleum Company in Texas

- 1967-1971: Serves as a Republican member of the US House of Representatives from Texas for two terms

- 1971-1973: Serves as US ambassador to the United Nations

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- 1976-1977: Serves as director of the Central Intelligence Agency

- 1981-1989: Serves as US vice president under Ronald Reagan, whom Bush had opposed for the Republican presidential nomination in 1980

- 1989-1993: Serves as US president. In August 1990, Bush leads an international coalition to counter Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and liberates the country in February 1991 with Operation Desert Storm.

- 1992: Bush loses his bid for a second term as president to Democrat Bill Clinton — AFP