TIMELINE: Key dates for Marvel Entertainment

(Reuters) - Walt Disney Co said on Monday it plans to buy Marvel Entertainment Inc for $4 billion in a deal that would add characters such as Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four to its entertainment empire.

The following are some key dates for Marvel:

* 1939 - Martin Goodman founds "Timely Publications" later to become "Marvel Comics." Timely's first publication, Marvel Comics No. 1, includes the first appearance of The Human Torch.

* 1939 - Goodman hires teenager, Stanley Lieber, as an assistant. Lieber eventually took the name Stan Lee and became one of the company's most popular artists. Lee served as the company's editor-in-chief from 1941-1942 and 1945-1972.

* March 1941 - Captain America comic launched, the company's first blockbuster title.

* May 1961 - The first Marvel Comics branded comic published, the science-fiction "Amazing Adventures No. 3".

* August 1962 - Spider-Man first appeared in the comic book "Amazing Fantasy No. 15." The character got his first solo in "The Amazing Spider-Man," in March 1963.

* September 1963 - X-Men team of mutant superheroes first appeared in "The X-Men No. 1."

* 1986 - Company sold to New World Entertainment. Three years later, it was sold to MacAndrews & Forbes, owned by Ronald Perelman.

* 1991 - Marvel taken public in an initial public offering.

* December 1996 - Company declares bankruptcy.

* June 1997 - Bondholders take over control of company, financier Carl Icahn named chairman.

* October 1998 - Company emerges from bankruptcy.

* 2000 - First "X-Men" movie.

* 2002 - First "Spider-Man" movie.

(Sources: Reuters News stories; Company website)