Timeline

1942-
Pittsburgh artist J. Howard Miller was hired by the Westinghouse Company’s War Production Coordinating Committee to create a series of posters for the war effort. The original "We Can Do It!" poster was among these. The poster was nothing exceptional at the time, and is rumored to have only been in one factory area for just two weeks.
February 1942- Redd Evans and John Jacob Loeb released the song "Rosie the Riveter", about a young woman who enters the workforce to help support her soldier boyfriend, Charlie. It was performed and variated by many different music groups at the time, and in later decades.

1943
May- The Saturday Evening Post released an issue with a cover painted by Norman Rockwell of a strong and sassy Rosie the Riveter. Rosie was eating a sandwich while o her lunch break at a dirty factory, with her foot slyly standing on Hitler's novel "Mein Kampf". The controversial cover immediately got people talking, and was the first major event in the Rosie the Riveter phase.
June-Due to the huge response the newspaper recieved from the public on their last cover, the Saturday Evening Post ran a story about the Norman Rockwell painting of Rosie the Riveter. The article analyzed the satire used in the painting, and the statement was made that "Rockwell’s Rosie tramples Hitler under her all-American penny loafer.". The article reinstigated the idea that American women (if up to the task) could easily play a huge part in the nation, and trample Hitler.
July- The Art Digest magazine did another follow up on the famous painting in their publishings. The magazine analyzed the painting in the same way that the Saturday Evening Post had, but it was due to this second article that the painting was begged to go on tour around the country.
August- Life magazine was the next to step into the limelight, as it took the analysis of Rosie the Riveter one step further in "The Many Faces of Rosie the Riveter". The magazine interviewed dozens of "real-life Rosies" around the country, and opened the nation's eyes to the female heros of the country. Women were named and interviewed on what their job was in their factory, what it involved, and who they were fighting for. The piece was very moving and made women everywhere realize that factory work was something that they could, and should, do.
September- The Magazine War Guide asked all US magazines to participate in the "Women and Work" cover promotion. They requested that in the month of September, magazines would dedicate their covers to promote vital work jobs for women. This idea helped spread the word to citizens from every social and interest standing in America.
                   - The Saturday Evening Post dazzled America yet again with their cover. When the Women and Work request was sent, they contacted Norman Rockwell for another Rosie painting. Titled "Rosie to the Rescue", the painting shows the woman as a jack-of-all-trades. Dressed in an American flag patterned outfit, she slings dozens of objects over her shoulder, each representing an in-demand job. Some jobs represented include a nurse, mechanic, telephone operator, milkman, farmer, and other civilian jobs. Ths really got the word out about easy, everyday things women could do to help their country.

1944
Hollywood releases "Rosie the Riveter", a romantic comedy movie about a woman working at a dirty factory. The film continued to promote women roles in industry.

1980
"The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter" documentary is released. The documentary included 700 interviews with people involved in the making of Rosie, to real life Rosies who worked in the industries. The documentary enabled people of the later time period to understand the role of women in the second world war.

1984
The movie "Swing Shift" was released, following the same idea as Rosie. The film tells the story of the dramatic lives of five women working in an airplane industry in the 1940's. The movie continued to live on legacy of Rosie.

1998
-The United States Postal Service released a Rosie the Riveter postage stamp, displaying the original "We Can Do It!" poster.
-A Rosie the Riveter action figure is released, stating the idealism of Rosie as an American heroine. When describing the doll, one of the toy merchants jokingly explained  “…You can use her to beckon your Barbies out of their mansions and into the factories to do their part for the US of A."

2000
The Rosie the Riveter Memorial is opened in California. The memorial provides a resting place fthe brave women who played a role in the war. The memorial features a statue of a ship under construction, signifying the average job completed by the women whose bodies remain there.

2002
In this year, the original painting of Rosie, done by Norman Rockwell, was put on auction by a collector, to the general public. The heat for the painting was heavy, and it ended up being sold for $4,959,500. It goes to show just how big of an impact this woman had on the nation.