Here are a few helpful timelines for tracking what happened in Congress leading up to the October government shutdown and following through until a decision was reached to raise the debt ceiling.
1. From the Associated Press, published online via Politico: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/government-shutdown-timeline-2013-97670.html. I prefer this timeline because its wording is the most precise and objective.
2. From NPR; includes media and video clips and begins with a few relevant events prior to Sept. 20: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/10/16/235442199/how-we-got-here-a-shutdown-timeline
3. From ABC7; also references the Associated Press as a source, but the wording is a little bit different than the timeline published by Politico and not quite as precise. Includes links to other ABC7 news articles: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/10/government-shutdown-2013-timeline-of-america-s-first-shutdown-since-1996-95489.html