Map Source
1057 King Anawrahta founded the first unified Burmese state at Pagan and adopted Theravada Buddhism.
1287 The Mongols under Kublai Khan conquer Pagan.
1531 The Toungoo dynasty along with Portuguese help reunited Burma.
1755 Alaungpaya founded the Konbaung dynasty.
1824-26 The first Anglo-Burmese war ended with the Treaty of Yandabo, according to which Burma ceded the Arakan coastal strip, between Chittagong and Cape Negrais, to British India.
1852 The Britain annexed lower Burma, including Rangoon, following the second Anglo-Burmese war.
1885-86 Britain captured Mandalay after a brief battle, Burma became a province of British India.
1937 Britain separated Burma from India and made it a crown colony.
1942 Japan invaded and occupied Burma with some help from the Japanese-trained Burma Independence Army, which later transforms itself into the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) and resisted Japanese rule.
1945 Britain liberated Burma from Japanese occupation with help from the AFPFL, led by Aung San.
1947 Aung San and six members of his interim government were assassinated by political opponents led by U Saw, a nationalist rival of Aung San's. U Nu, foreign minister in Ba Maw's government, which ruled Burma during the Japanese occupation, asked to head the AFPFL and the government.
1948 Burma became independent with U Nu as prime minister.
Mid-1950s U Nu, together with Indian Prime Minister Nehru, Indonesian President Sukarno, Yugoslav President Tito and Egyptian President Nasser co-found the Movement of Non-Aligned States.
1958-60 Caretaker government, led by army Chief of Staff General Ne Win, formed following a split in the ruling AFPFL party.
1960 U Nu's party faction won decisive victory in the elections, but his promotion of Buddhism as the state religion and his tolerance of separatism angered the military.
1962 U Nu's faction was ousted in a military coup led by Gen Ne Win, who abolished the federal system and inaugurated "the Burmese Way to Socialism" - nationalising the economy, forming a single-party state with the Socialist Programme Party as the sole political party, and banning independent newspapers.
1974 New constitution came into effect, transferring power from the armed forces to a People's Assembly headed by Ne Win and other former military leaders. The body of the former United Nations secretary-general U Thant was returned to Burma for burial.
1975 The Opposition National Democratic Front was formed by regionally-based minority groups, who mounted guerrilla insurgencies.
1981 Ne Win relinquished the presidency to San Yu (a retired general) but continued as chairman of the ruling Socialist Programme Party.
1982 Law were passed designating people of non-indigenous background as "associate citizens" in effect bars such people from public office.
1987 Currency devaluation wiped out many people's savings and triggers anti-government riots.
1988 Thousands of people were killed during anti-government riots. The State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) was formed.
1989 Slorc declared martial law, thousands of people were arrested, including advocates of democracy and human rights. The country was renamed Burma Myanmar, and the capital Rangoon, became Yangon. NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Aung San, were placed under house arrest.
1990 Opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory during a general election, but the result was ignored by the military.
1991 Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her commitment to peaceful change.
1992 Than Shwe replaced Saw Maung as Slorc chairman, prime minister and defence minister. Several political prisoners were freed in a bid to improve Burma's international image.
1995 Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest after six years.
1996 Aung San Suu Kyi attended the first NLD congress since her release. Slorc arrest more than 200 delegates on their way to a party congress.
1997 Burma admitted to the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean). Slorc renamed State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
1998 300 NLD members were released from prison. The ruling council refuses to comply with NLD deadline for convening of parliament, while student demonstrations broken up.
1999 Aung San Suu Kyi rejected the ruling council conditions to visit her British husband, Michael Aris, who dies of cancer in UK.
September 2000 The ruling council lifted restrictions on the movements of Aung San Suu Kyi and senior NLD members.
October 2000 Aung San Suu Kyi began secret talks with the ruling council.
2001 The ruling council released 200 pro-democracy activists. The government also releases its progress in talks with opposition NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi who remains under house arrest.
February 2001 The Burmese army and Shan rebels clashed on the Thai border.
June 2001 The Thai Prime Minister Shinawatra visit, says relations are back on track.
September 2001 Intelligence chief Khin Nyunt visited Thailand. Burma pledged to eliminate the drugs trade in the Golden Triangle by 2005.
November 2001 Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited, and issues a statement supporting the government, and urges economic reform.
May 2002 Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi released after nearly 20 months of house arrest.
May 2003 Aung San Suu Kyi was taken into "protective custody" after clashes between her supporters and those of government.
August 2003 Khin Nyunt became prime minister. He proposes to hold a convention in 2004 on drafting a new constitution as part of "road map" to democracy.
November 2003 Five senior NLD leaders released from house arrest after visit of U.N. human rights envoy.
January 2004 Government and Karen National Union (most significant ethnic group fighting government) agree to end hostilities.
May 2004 Constitutional convention began despite boycott by National League for Democracy (NLD) whose leader Aung San Suu Kyi remained under house arrest. The convention adjourned in July.
October 2004 Khin Nyunt was replaced as prime minister amid reports of a power struggle. He was placed under house arrest.
November 2004 Leading dissidents were freed as part of a release of thousands of prisoners, including Min Ko Naing, who led the 1988 pro-democracy student demonstrations.
December 2004 Giant waves generated by an undersea earthquake off the Indonesian coast, hit the coast. The prime minister reported that 59 people were killed and more than 3,000 left homeless.
February 2005 The constitutional convention resumed, but without the participation of the main opposition and ethnic groups. Talks ended in January 2006 with no reports of any clear outcomes.
7th May 2005 Three near-simultaneous explosions go off in shopping districts in the capital, the government announces the death toll to be 23.
July 2005 Asean announced that Burma had turned down the 2006 chairmanship of the regional grouping.
November 2005 Burma reported that its seat of government was moved to a new site near the central town of Pyinmana.
March 2006 The new capital Nay Pyi Taw, hosted its first official event, an Armed Forces Day parade.
January 2007 China and Russia veto a draft U.S. resolution at the U.N. Security Council urging Burma to stop persecuting minority and opposition groups.
April 2007 Burma and North Korea restore diplomatic ties, 24 years after Rangoon broke them off, accusing North Korean agents of staging a deadly bomb attack against the visiting South Korean president.
May 2007 Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest was extended for another year.
June 2007 In a rare departure from its normally neutral stance, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) accused the government of abusing the Burmese people's rights.
August 2007 Public dissent sparked by fuel price hikes, lead to dozens of activists being arrested.
September 2007 Military government declared 14 years of constitutional talks complete and closed the National Convention. Buddhist monks held a series of anti-government protests. Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to leave her house to greet monks demonstrating in Rangoon. It was her first public appearance since 2003. Authorities began to crack down on protests, but demonstrations continue. U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari met opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
October 2007 Normality returned to Rangoon amid heavy military presence. Monks were absent, after thousands were reportedly rounded up. After some delay the U.N. Security Council deplored the military crackdown on peaceful protesters.
January 2008 A series of bomb blasts hit the country. State media blamed "insurgent destructionists", including the Karen National Union (KNU), a group fighting for greater autonomy for the ethnic Karen people.
April 2008 The government published a proposed new constitution, which allocated a quarter of the seats in parliament to the military and banned the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from holding office. To be put to national referendum on 10 May.
May 2008 Cyclone Nargis hit the low-lying Irrawaddy delta. Some estimates put the death toll as high as 134,000. Referendum proceeds amid humanitarian crisis following the cyclone. Government says 92% voted in favour of a draft constitution and insisted it could cope with the cyclone aftermath without foreign help. The military Junta renewed Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest.
November 2008 Dozens of political activists were given sentences of up to 65 years in a series of secretive trials.
December 2008 The government signed a deal with a consortium of four foreign firms to pipe natural gas into neighbouring China, despite protests from human rights groups.
January 2009 Thailand expelled hundreds of members of Burma's Muslim Rohingya minority who appeared off its coast. Burma denied the minority's existence. Several hundred Rohingyas were subsequently rescued from boats off the coast of Indonesia. The U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari met opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the first time in a year.
March 2009 Senior U.S. State Department official Stephen Blake visited for talks with Foreign Minister Nyan Win in what the U.S. called a routine visit. The Burmese government said it was notable given his seniority. U.N. refugee agency announced its expansion of work in northern Rakhine state to aid Rohingya minority.
April 2009 The National League for Democracy (NLD) main opposition group offered to take part in planned elections if the government freed all political prisoners, changed the constitution and admitted international observers.
May 2009 The E.U. extended the 2006 sanctions for another year, but added that they could be reviewed in the event of moves towards democracy. U.N. and aid agencies said hundreds of thousands in the Irrawaddy Delta still need assistance a year after Cyclone Nargis. The U.N. said Burma now allows it to bring in all the staff it needs.
August 2009 Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was convicted of breaching conditions of her house arrest, following visit by an uninvited U.S. national in May. The initial sentence of three years' imprisonment was commuted to 18 months' house arrest.
September 2009 The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced plans for engagement with military rulers.
October 2009 Aung San Suu Kyi began talks with Burma's military leaders and was allowed to meet Western diplomats.
February 2010 The authorities freed the NLD vice-chairman Tin Oo. Aung San Suu Kyi's deputy had spent more than a decade in prison or under house arrest.
March 2010 The government announced that long-awaited election laws have been passed, with provisions for an electoral commission hand-picked by the junta. NLD voted to boycott polls. Splinter party (National Democratic Front) (NDF) later gained legal status and planned to compete in polls.
October 2010 The government changed the country's flag, national anthem and official name.
November 2010 The main military backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), claimed a resounding victory in the first election for 20 years. Opposition groups alleged widespread fraud and the election was widely condemned as a sham. The military junta said the election marked the transition from military rule to a civilian democracy. A week after the election Aung San Suu Kyi who had been prevented from taking part, was released from house arrest.
January 2011 The government authorised an internet connection for Aung San Suu Kyi.
March 2011 Thein Sein was sworn in as president of a new, nominally civilian government.
Source
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific
Articles of interest
