Key events in rule, trial of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak

CAIRO (AP) -- An Egyptian court ordered Wednesday the release of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, but it is not yet clear if the ailing ex-leader will walk free after over two years in detention, officials said.

Here are some key events in the rule, downfall and criminal trial of the former Egyptian President:

May 4, 1928 - Mubarak is born in Kafr El-Meselha in the Nile Delta province of Monofiya.

March 13, 1950 - Mubarak graduates from air academy as a pilot and an officer.

April 1975 - Mubarak becomes vice president of Egypt, serving under President Anwar Sadat.

Oct. 14, 1981 - Mubarak takes office after militants assassinate Sadat during a military parade. Mubarak, Sadat's vice president, escaped with a minor hand injury. His security forces are empowered by new emergency laws giving police broad powers of arrest and go after Islamists. He also promises Egypt will stick to its 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

1992 - Militants launch an uprising aimed at overthrowing Mubarak's government and setting up an Islamic state. Gunmen attack police, assassinate politicians and target foreign tourists, a key source of revenue.

June 1995 - Militants attempt to assassinate Mubarak as he visits Ethiopia.

1997 - Mubarak crushes the militant movement through the arrests of thousands as police are accused of torture.

2008 - Riots erupt over soaring bread prices amid grain shortages. Mubarak responds by firing up military ovens to help quell discontent.

2005 - Mubarak allows the first ever multi-candidate presidential election, which he won easily over 10 other candidates amid charges of voter fraud and intimidation.

2010 - Parliamentary elections are widely deplored as rigged. The Muslim Brotherhood, which had dozens of its members in parliament as independents, responds by withdrawing its candidates from a second round of voting.

Jan. 25, 2011 - Thousands of anti-government protesters clash with police in Cairo during a Tunisia-inspired demonstration to demand the president's ouster. The day marked the start of Arab Spring in Egypt.

Feb. 11 - After 18 days of massive protests against his rule, Mubarak is forced to resign. A council of military generals takes over Egypt's government. Mubarak is airlifted out of Cairo and stays in his private villa in the Red Sea town of Sharm el-Sheikh. He is later questioned for the first time by prosecutors.

April 13 - Authorities detain Mubarak and his two sons for investigation of corruption, abuse of power and killings of hundreds of protesters. He later is ordered to stand trial on charges of corruption and conspiracy in the deadly shooting of nearly 900 protesters.

Aug. 3 - Mubarak's trial opens in Cairo. From a gurney in the defendant's cage, Mubarak denies all charges against him. Millions across the Middle East watch, transfixed by the sight of the former strongman behind prison cage bars. He becomes the first and only Arab leader to face trial by his own people.

June 2, 2012 - Mubarak, now 84, is found guilty of failing to stop the killings and sentenced to life in prison. He is ferried by helicopter to Torah prison in Cairo. He does not spend time in a prison cell and is kept in the prison hospital, which was upgraded to accommodate his health conditions.

January 2013 - Investigators interrogate Mubarak over gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars he allegedly received from the country's flagship state-owned newspaper as a show of loyalty while he was in power.

Jan. 13 - Appeals court overturns Mubarak's life sentence in protester killings as the presiding judge says the prosecution's case lacked concrete evidence and failed to prove the protesters were killed by the police.

Jan. 16 - Mubarak and his family agree to pay back 18 million Egyptian pounds ($3 million) for gifts they received from the state newspaper Al-Ahram.

April - A new investigation begins into accusations Mubarak and his family embezzled state funds designated for the maintenance and upkeep of presidential palaces.

April 13 - Mubarak's retrial for alleged complicity in the killing of protesters begins. The judge recuses himself and does not specify the reasons behind his decision. A new judge takes over and the trial resumes a month later.

Aug. 19 - A criminal court orders Mubarak's release pending trial in the case regarding the misuse of funds for presidential palaces. The case involves his two sons who were ordered kept in custody. He has already previously been ordered released pending his retrial in the killings of protesters. A petition by his lawyer requesting his release in a third case for gifts from the state newspaper is under review.

Aug. 21 - A court orders Mubarak's release pending the trial of gifts from the newspaper.