Highlights from Garrison Keillor's life on the 'Prairie'

July 6, 1974: First "PHC" is broadcast from Macalester College in St. Paul, with an audience of a dozen.

May 21, 1977: Listeners are first introduced to the residents of Lake Wobegon.

May 3, 1980: Show starts being broadcast nationally each week from St. Paul's World Theater, its home since 1978.

Oct. 11, 1980: Show wins a Peabody Award, the most prestigious honor in broadcasting.

May 15, 1982: Chet Atkins makes his first appearance, blazing the trail for dozens of other big-name artists. Almost 20 years later, Keillor would deliver his eulogy.

Nov. 4, 1985: Keillor lands on the cover of Time. An excerpt: "To be a Midwesterner, or know someone who is, suddenly is almost fashionable."

Aug. 30, 1986: First broadcast from the Minnesota State Fair.

Jan. 1, 1993: Launches "The Writer's Almanac," a daily, five-minute radio spot paying homage to great poets.

May 13, 1994: With Keillor leading the charge, the World Theater is renamed for St. Paul native F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Nov. 6, 1994: Inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. Paul Harvey lauds him as the closest thing we have to Will Rogers.

May 3, 2006: Shares the red carpet with Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan and Lily Tomlin at the Midwest premiere of "A Prairie Home Companion," Robert Altman's final movie.

Nov. 1, 2006: Opens Common Good Books in St. Paul.

Dec. 7, 2014: Inducts Lily Tomlin into the Kennedy Center Honors, show business' pickiest club, fueling speculation that he might follow.