Occupy Wall Street Timeline

Members of the fledgling Occupy Wall Street movement start a Tumbr titled "We are the 99 Percent," where people can share their personal stories of economic struggle.

The Occupy Wall Street protests begin, with around 1,000 people marching up and down Wall Street. They ultimately settle in nearby Zuccotti Park.

New York City police begin arrest a number of masked protesters, invoking an 1845 law that bans gatherings of masked people unless it's for "a masquerade party or like entertainment."

On his Current TV show, Keith Olbermann slams the mainstream media for ignoring the protests, asking, "Why isn't any major news outlet covering this? If that's a Tea Party protest in front of Wall Street about Ben Bernanke putting stimulus funds into it, it's the lead story on every network newscast."

Video goes viral showing young women protesters being maced by a NYPD officer.

More than 500 protesters (out of a total of about 5,000) are arrested during a march across the Brooklyn Bridge, after spilling over from the pedestrian walkway onto the roadway of the bridge. Thousands march in other cities, including Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles.

Occupy Wall Street receives support from 39 organizations, including large labor unions and MoveOn.org; the groups join OWS protesters for a 10,000-20,000-strong march through the financial district.

President Obama lends mild support to the Occupy Wall Street protesters. At a press conference, he tells reporters that he sympathizes with the"frustrations the American people feel," and allows that "the protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works."

House Republican Leader Eric Cantor derides the OWS protests at a conservative conference, saying he's "increasingly concerned [about] the growing mobs" forming across the country. 

In an ABC News interview, top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi expresses her support for the movement, saying that the stubborn nine-percent unemployment rate has much to do with Occupy Wall Street's anger. "The thought was that when we [passed TARP], there would be capital available and Main Street would benefit from the resources that went largely to Wall Street," she says. "That didn't happen. People are angry."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had been critical of protesters, takes a noticeably softer line. "The bottom line is, people want to express themselves, and as long as they obey the laws, we'll allow them to," the mayor tells reporters at a Columbus Day parade.

A TIME survey finds that more than half of Americans view the Occupy Wall Street movement favorably – while only 27 percent feel the same way about the Tea Party. The positions held by OWS – that the rich should pay higher taxes, that Wall Street execs should be held accountable – also have strong support among Americans.

The owner of Zuccotti Park, Brookfield Office Properties Inc., delays a plan to clean up the park, heartening protesters, who'd suspected it was a pretext to get them booted.

Thousands of protesters in New York march through Manhattan to Times Square. Rallies take place in cities across the U.S. and the world. Protests turn violent in Rome, where cars are torched and windows smashed.

The Oakland Police Department fired tear gas at Occupy Oakland protesters as they marched through the city's downtown area, trying to reclaim the encampment officers had broken up earlier that morning. The local police's use of force seriously injured activist and Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen, 24, leaving him with a fractured skull. [Huffington Post]

Occupy Oakland protesters successfully held a "general strike" on the city, causing many businesses to either shut down or remain closed. The protesters also organized a march on the city's busy port, which forced it to close by early evening. [New York Times]

New York City police in riot gear swept into Zuccotti Park in the early morning to remove hundreds of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators, making more than 200 arrests. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the protesters could return once the park had been cleaned, but without their tents and sleeping bags.