| 3 September 1899 | Born in Traralgon, a country town in eastern Victoria, Australia |
| 1909 | Family moves to Terang in western Victoria |
| 1909 | Burnet attended the local state primary schools in bothTraralgon and Terang |
| 1909 | Attended Geelong College as a boarder gaining scholarships in his final year, including a residential scholarship at Ormond College, which enabled him to proceed to the University of Melbourne |
| 1917 - 1922 | University of Melbourne, graduated MB,BS coming second in a class containing four other persons who later achieved fame in science and medicine, namely Sir Roy Cameron FRS, Professor R.A. Willis, Dame Jean Macnamara and Dame Kate Campbell |
| 1922 - 1924 | Melbourne Hospital, resident medical officer working under the surgeons Sir Alan Newton and Sir Victor Hurley and the physician Dr R.R.(later Sir Richard) Stawell |
| 1924 | University of Melbourne, MD |
| 1924 | Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Melbourne Hospital, pathological registrar and then senior resident pathologist under the influence and direction of Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley FRS and Dr Charles Kellaway (later Sir Charles Kellaway FRS) |
| 1925 | Ship's surgeon in June while en route to England |
| 1925 - 1927 | Lister Institute, London, assistant to the curator of the National Collection of Type Cultures allowing about two-thirds of his time for research |
| 1925 - 1927 | Beit Fellowship Award allowing for full-time research on bacteriophages |
| 1928 - 1931 | Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, bacteriologist carrying out investigations for the Royal Commission into the `Bundaberg disaster' and continuing studies on bacteriophage |
| 1928 | University of London, Ph.D, under the supervision of Professor J.G. Ledingham |
| 1928 | Invited to write a chapter on bacteriophages for the Medical Research Council's System of Bacteriology (London, 1930) |
| 10 July 1928 | Married Edith Linda Marston Druce after his return to Australia |
| 1932 - 1933 | National Institute of Medical Research, London, working under the direction of Sir Henry Dale on a project on animal virology, Burnet developed his work on the use of the chick embryo for the isolation and assay of animal viruses |
| 1934 - 1943 | Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Assistant Director, he rounded off his work on bacteriophage but continued his work on viruses particularly on psittacosis, a rickettsia that caused Q fever, poliovirus and his major interest influenza virus |
| 1935 | Stewart Prize, British Medical Association |
| 1942 | Royal Society of London, Fellow |
| 1944 | Dunham Lectures, Harvard University |
| 1944 - 1965 | Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Director and University of Melbourne, Professor of Experimental Medicine |
| 1944 - 1956 | Work concentrated on animal virology but in particular influenza virus and the phenomenon of haemagglutination |
| 1946 | Obtained from the Government of Australia a special grant £20,000 to establish a group equipped to carry out biophysical research on viruses, including electrophoresis, ultracentrifugation, and later electron microscope studies |
| 1946 | Honorary Doctor of Science - Cambridge |
| 1947 - 1952 | Defence Research and Development Policy Committee (Commonwealth of Australia) |
| 1947 - 1953 | National Health and Medical Research Council - Medical Research |
| 1947 - 1953 | Advisory Committee (Commonwealth of Australia) |
| 1947 | Royal Medal, Royal Society of London |
| 1948 | Honorary Doctor of Science - University of Western Australia |
| 1948 | Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Fellow |
| 1950 | Holme Lecture, University College Hospital, London |
| 1950 | New York Academy of Sciences, Honorary Member |
| 1950 | American Public Health Association, Honorary Member |
| 1950 | Wright Lecture, St Mary's Hospital, London |
| 1950 | Moynihan Lecture, Royal College of Surgeons of England |
| 1950 | Herter Lectures, Johns Hopkins University |
| 1950 | Croonian Lecture, The Royal Society |
| 1951 - 1956 | Burnet concentrated on the genetics of the influenza virus and demonstrated high frequency recombination |
| 1951 | Knight Bachelor |
| 1951 | Woodward Lecture, Yale University |
| 1951 | Dyer Award Lecture, US National Institutes of Health |
| 1952 | Lasker Award, American Public Health Association |
| 1952 - 1969 | World Health Organization, Expert Advisory Panels on Virus Diseases and on Immunology |
| 1953 | Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh), Fellow |
| 1953 | Royal College of Physicians (London), Fellow |
| 1953 - 1957 | International Association of Microbiological Societies, President |
| 1954 | Von Behring Prize for 1952, University of Marburg |
| 1954 | James Cook Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales |
| 1954 | US National Academy of Sciences, Foreign Associate |
| 1954 | Australian Academy of Science, Foundation Fellow, President 1965-69 |
| 1954 | CIBA Foundation Lecture, London |
| 1954 | Litchfield Lecture, Oxford University |
| 1954 | Price Lecture, Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh) |
| 1955 - 1959 | Radiation Advisory Committee (Commonwealth of Australia), Chairman |
| 1956 | Wyckoff Lecture, New York University |
| 1957 | Honorary Doctor of Science - New Zealand |
| 1957 | Royal Swedish Academy of Science, Foreign Member |
| 1957 | Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science,President |
| 1957 - 1964 | Nuffield Foundation, Australian Advisory Committee |
| 1957 - 1965 | A revolutionary change is made in the direction the work at Institute with the work on virology abandoned and interest shifted to immunology and the theories of antibody production |
| 1958 | Galen Medal, Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London |
| 1958 | American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Foreign Member |
| 1958 | Order of Merit |
| 1958 | Honorary Doctor of Medicine: Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia |
| 1958 | Cutter Lecture, Harvard University |
| 1958 | Abraham Flexner Lectures, Vanderbilt University |
| 1959 | Matthew Flinders Lecture, Australian Academy of Science |
| 1959 - 1963 | World Health Organization Medical Research Advisory Committee |
| 1959 | Copley Medal, Royal Society of London |
| 1959 | Croonian Lectures, Royal College of Physicians (London) |
| 1960 | Royal Society of New Zealand, Honorary Member |
| 1960 | Nobel Lecture, Royal Swedish Academy of Science |
| 1960 | American Philosophical Society, Foreign Member |
| 1960 | Burnet formulates what he regards to be his major contribution to science, the clonal selection theory of antibody production |
| 1960 | Schorstein Lecture, London Hospital |
| 1960 | Herzstein Medical Lectures, Stanford University |
| 1960 | Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine |
| 1960 | Honorary Doctor of Science - Harvard |
| 1960 | Honorary Doctor of Science - London |
| 1961 | American Association of Immunologists, Honorary Member |
| 1961 | Honorary Doctor of Science - Sydney |
| 1961 | Second Order of the Rising Sun (with Double Rays) |
| 1961 | Association of American Physicians, Honorary Member |
| 1962 - 1969 | Papua New Guinea Medical Research Advisory Committee (Territory of Papua and New Guinea), Chairman |
| 1962 | Mueller Medal, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science |
| 1962 | Jephcott Lecture, Royal Society of Medicine |
| 1962 | New York University Medal |
| 1962 | Chouke Lecture, College of Physicians of Philadelphia |
| 1962 | Honorary Doctor of Laws: Melbourne |
| 1963 | James Spence Medal, British Paediatric Association |
| 1963 | American College of Physicians, Honorary Fellow |
| 1963 - 1969 | Queen Elizabeth II Fellowships Committee (Commonwealth of Australia), Chairman |
| 1963 | Eli Lilly Lecture, American College of Physicians |
| 1963 | Aschoff Lecture, Freiburg, Germany |
| 1963 | CIBA Foundation Study Group: The Immunologically Competent Cell, in honour of Sir Macfarlane Burnet |
| 1964 | Sommer Memorial Lectures, Portland, Oregon |
| 1964 | Marcy Lecture, University of Pittsburgh |
| 1965 | CIBA Symposium: The Thymus, in honour of Sir Macfarlane Burnet, Melbourne |
| 1965 - 1974 | Britannica Australia Awards General Council |
| 1965 - 1974 | Britannica Australia Awards Medical Committee, Chairman |
| July 1965 | Australian Journal of Experimental Biology and Medical Sciences, Frank Macfarlane Burnet Commemoration Issue |
| 1966 - 1977 | Burnet produced thirteen books during this period on immunology, human biology, ageing and cancer, as well as a fourth edition of his first book |
| 1966 | Harben Lectures, Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene |
| 1966 - 1977 | University of Melbourne, School of Microbiology, Professor Emeritus with rooms and a secretary |
| 1966 | Naming of Nuffield-Burnet Laboratories, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute |
| 1966 - 1970 | La Trobe University Council |
| 1966 - 1969 | The Commonwealth Foundation, Chairman |
| 1967 | Noranda Lecture, Expo' 67, Montreal |
| 1967 | Cameron Lecture, College of Pathologists, London |
| 1967 | Honorary Doctor of Science - New South Wales |
| 1968 | Royal College of Surgeons (England), Fellow |
| 1968 | Honorary Doctor of Science - Oxford |
| 1968 | Honorary Doctor of Science - Monash University |
| 1969 | Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire |
| 1969 | Burnet Lecture and Medal, Australian Academy of Science, established |
| November 1969 | Australasian Annals of Medicine, Burnet Symposium Issue |
| 1970 | Royal Society of Edinburgh, Honorary Fellow |
| 1971 | International Epidemiological Association, Honorary Member |
| 1971 | First International Congress of Immunology Award |
| 1973 | Distinguished Service Award, International Association of Allergy |
| 1973 | Sir Douglas Robb Lectures, University of Auckland |
| 10 November 1973 | Death of his wife, Linda of lymphoid leukemia |
| 1974 | American Academy of Allergy, Honorary Fellow |
| 1974 | Honorary Doctor of Science - Newcastle |
| 1975 | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Jubilee Medal |
| 1975 | MacArthur Postgraduate Lecture, University of Edinburgh |
| 1976 | Married Hazel Jenkin |
| 1976 | Emil von Behring Commemorative Medal |
| 1977 | Sir Macfarlane Burnet Lecture, Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases, established |
| 1977 | International Congress of Immunology, President |
| 1977 | Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal |
| 1978 - 1985 | Retired to his home where he produced two more books and numerous articles on general problems such as the future of Australia |
| 1978 | Aharon Katzir-Katachalsky Memorial Lectures, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel |
| 1978 | Knight of the Order of Australia |
| 1979 | Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Annual Review 1978-79. A Tribute to Sir Macfarlane Burnet |
| 1980 | William S. Paley Lecture, New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center, New York |
| 1981 | Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Fellow |
| 1981 | Australian of the Year |
| 1982 - 1983 | Australian Advisory Council of Elders, Patron |
| 1984 | Honorary Doctor of Medical Science: Medical University of South Carolina |
| 1984 | Operated on for cancer of the rectum |
| 31 August 1985 | Died at his son's home at Port Fairy, near where he spent his boyhood |
| 5 September 1985 | A State Funeral was held by the Government of Australia at the Toorak Uniting Church, Melbourne. |
| 6 September 1985 | After a private family service, he was laid to rest at Tower Hill Cemetery, near Port Fairy |
| 1986 | Naming of Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research, Fairfield Hospital, Melbourne |
| 1986 | Burnet Memorial Oration, Australian Society of Immunology, established |
| 1986 | Naming of Burnet Clinical Research Unit of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute |
