| 3 May 1880 | Laby is born |
| 1901 - 1905 | Demonstrator of chemistry, University of Sydney |
| 1905 - 1908 | 1851 Exhibition Scholar |
| 1907 | BA, University of Sydney and Emmanuel College, Cambridge |
| 1909 - 1914 | Professor of Physics at Victoria University College, Wellington, New Zealand |
| 1909 - 1915 | Professor of Physics, Victoria University College, New Zealand |
| 1911 | President, Section A, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science |
| 1915 | Appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy |
| 1915 - 1944 | Professor of Natural Philosophy, University of Melbourne |
| 1921 | ScD, University of Sydney and Emmanuel College, Cambridge |
| 1924 | President of the Royal Society of Victoria |
| 1928 | President, Section A, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science |
| 1929 - 1931 | Consulting physicist, Imperial Geophysical Experimental Survey |
| 1929 - 1937 | Commonwealth Adviser on Radium |
| 1939 - 1941 | First President, Australian branch, Institute of Physics |
| 1940 - 1944 | Chairman, Optical Munitions Panel |
| 1942 | Laby resigns in acrimonious dispute with Medley. Picken buys into the debate publicly as well. |
| 1943 | Member, Army Inventions Directorate |
| 1944 | Laby resigns again due to ill health |
| 1946 | Emeritus Professor, University of Melbourne |
| 21 June 1946 | Death of Laby |
