TIMELINE: Key dates in General Motors' history

(Reuters) - General Motors Corp filed for America's largest-ever industrial bankruptcy on Monday.

Heralding a new and uncertain era for the No. 1 U.S. automaker, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York before the start of trading.

The following are key events in GM's history, including major deals and alliances by the No. 1 U.S. automaker.

1908 - GM founded in Flint, Michigan.

1919 - GM creates captive finance arm, GMAC.

1929 - GM buys 80 percent stake in European Adam Opel AG.

1937 - After a bitter strike, GM recognizes the United Auto Workers (UAW) as the bargaining representative for its hourly workers.

1971 - GM buys 34.2 percent of Isuzu Motors Ltd. GM raises stake to 49 percent in 1998 and later sells it.

1981 - GM buys about 5 percent of Suzuki Motor Corp. It raises the stake to 20 percent in 2000, and later sells all but 3 percent.

1981 - GM and Toyota Motor Corp form a joint venture, known as NUMMI, to build cars in Fremont, California.

1986 - GM acquires British sports car maker Lotus. It sold Lotus in 1993.

1990 - GM buys a 50-percent stake in Sweden's Saab and purchases the remaining half a decade later.

1990 - GM launches Saturn.

1998 - A 56-day strike at GM's Flint stamping operations shuts all of GM's North American assembly plants.

1999 - GM buys 20 percent of Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. GM later sells all of the stake. 1999 - GM spins off partsmaker Delphi Corp. Delphi's U.S. operations enter Chapter 11 reorganization in 2005, where they remain.

2000 - GM decides to kill the Oldsmobile brand.

2000 - GM buys 20 pct of Italy's automaker Fiat for $2.4 billion in GM stock. The deal includes a "put" option that gives Fiat SpA the right to force GM to buy the remainder of the Italian automaker.

2002 - GM signs deal to buy most of Daewoo Motor Co.

2005 - GM pays $2 billion to Fiat to cancel "put" option under its deal and buy its way out of the alliance.

2007 - GM signs deal with the UAW, which includes shifting GM's retiree health care liabilities to an independent trust.

June 2008 - GM puts Hummer brand on review, ahead of a possible sale.

July 2008 - GM announces plans to cut costs by $10 billion and raise $5 billion through borrowing and asset sales.

Sept 2008 - GM and Chrysler holds talks to combine companies. GM sets aside talks in November to focus on preserving cash.

Nov 2008 - GM warns its liquidity will fall short of the minimum needed to run its business by the first half of 2009.

Dec 2, 2008 - GM seeks U.S. government aid of up to $18 billion.

Dec 19, 2008 - GM and Chrysler granted $17.4 billion in government loans.

Jan 21, 2009 - Toyota Motor Corp surpasses GM as the world's largest automaker for the first time.

Feb 5, 2009 - GM announces plan to slash its global salaried workforce by about 10,000, or 14 percent and cut the pay of most remaining white-collar U.S. workers.

Feb 17, 2009 - GM raises U.S. funding request to a total of $30 billion, announces plans to cut global workforce by 47,000 and close five U.S. plants by 2012.

Feb 26, 2009 - GM posts 2008 loss of $30.9 billion.

March 5, 2009 - GM's auditors raise "substantial doubt" about its ability to survive outside bankruptcy.

March 30, 2009 - GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner ousted by U.S. government, replaced by Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson. Company also given 60 days to develop new restructuring plan.

April 17, 2009 - GM says readying detailed plans for bankruptcy filing as it races to complete a business plan under federal oversight.

April 22, 2009 - GM says unlikely to make a $1 billion debt payment due June 1.

April 27, 2009 - GM offers final plan to reorganize outside bankruptcy by slashing bond debt, cutting over 21,000 more U.S. jobs and emerging as a nationalized automaker. GM warns it would file for bankruptcy if an offer to exchange bonds for company equity failed to cut $27 billion in debt by about 90 percent of bondholders.

May 5, 2009 - GM details plans to all but wipe out the holdings of remaining shareholders by issuing up to 60 billion new shares in a bid to pay off debt to the U.S. government, bondholders and the UAW.

May 7, 2009 - GM posts a first-quarter net loss of $6 billion and a cash burn of $10.2 billion.

May 15, 2009 - GM announces plans to drop 1,100 of its smaller, less-profitable dealerships.

May 21, 2009 - GM announces a new cost-saving labor agreement with the UAW, under which UAW-aligned healthcare trust will receive half of the $20 billion debt GM owes the fund in the form of stock and new debt, instead of cash.

May 22, 2009 - GM borrows another $4 billion from the U.S. Treasury and reaches deal with Canadian auto workers.

May 27, 2009 - GM's offer to exchange $27 billion in bond debt for a 10 percent stake in a reorganized company fails.

May 28, 2009 - GM and the U.S. Treasury make new equity exchange offer under which bondholders would be offered 10 percent of a reorganized company and given warrants to purchase another 15 percent.

June 1, 2009 - GM files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.

(Reporting by Soyoung Kim, additional reporting by Poornima Gupta and Patrick Fitzgibbons)