News broke early this morning that Massachusetts Sen. Edward (Ted) Kennedy had died, succumbing to a battle with brain cancer he started waging a year ago. He was 77. Kennedy first entered the U.S. Senate in 1962 as one of the body's youngest members (he was 30) after his brother ascended to the presidency. Since then, he crafted for himself one of Washington's highest profiles─not just because of his longevity, but also his legislative brokering on issues like health care, immigration, and education.

Kennedy was no stranger to the pages of NEWSWEEK, having appeared on our cover close to a dozen times, the last time in July, when the senator drafted a cover essay on his fight for health-care reform. But NEWSWEEK reporters and editors have captured Kennedy's bumps and milestones for decades. Our team has pulled together this collection of photos as a look back at some of those markers.

NEWSWEEK's Evan Thomas also has a colorful and in-depth look back at Kennedy's life as the youngest son of the most expansive political dynasty in American history. "At one level, his story is a familiar one to the many students of Kennedyiana, a tale of sin and redemption, triumph and tragedy," Evan writes. "But like all good human stories, his is not so easily reduced to cliché. Kennedy's saga is at once more complicated and more intriguing. And it begins with a personal mystery: how someone born into a life of wealth and privilege, into a family which defined itself by its greatness, could be made to feel like a nonentity."

Watch this space throughout the day for additional coverage, including remembrances from colleagues and our own political team's analysis of the life and legacy of Ted Kennedy.