If you more /var/log/dmesg, you will see that the very first thing that Linux does as it begins to boot is report what distro/version it is booting with, who complied the build, what complier it was compiled with, and teh date it was complied.
dmesg then goes on to record all information reported by the devices and applications started through the run levels.
dmesg is the most important and useful file on your system for debugging the boot sequence.
Opps sorry lesson over.
Good Luck
Laurie.