15 million years ago Large primates happy at ground level
A primate of this period, at ease both in the trees and on the ground, is probably the common ancestor of gorillas, chimpanzees and humans

6 million years ago Apes walk tall
Various species of ape develop the habit of walking upright on two feet

4.5m. years ago First hominids
Certain primates, in eastern and southern Africa, are by now sufficiently like humans to be classed as hominids

3.2 million years ago Lucy in Ethiopia
A female of the species Australopithecus Afarensis (nicknamed Lucy when her skeleton is found), lives in the Afar Depression in Ethiopia within 50 miles of where her predecessor Ardi was unearthed

1.6 million years ago Nariokotome Boy in Kenya
A Homo erectus boy, aged about ten, lives near Lake Turkana in Kenya and dies at Nariokotome

30,000 years ago Rock paintings in Namibia
Painted and engraved images, on the rock face in a cave near Twyfelfontein in Namibia, date from this period

5000 BC Hippopotamus in Sahara
The Sahara, damp enough for the hippopotamus, supports neolithic communities until it begins to dry up in about 3000 BC

4400 BC First evidence of loom
The first evidence of a loom comes from this period in Egypt, but some simple method of holding the warp must be as old as weaving

4000 BC Plough pulled by humans
A simple hand-held plough is in use in Egypt and Mesopotamia, at least 1000 years before a heavier version is pulled by oxen

3100 BC First dynasty in Egypt
Upper and Lower Egypt are unified into a single kingdom, inaugurating the first Egyptian dynasty

3100 BC Egyptian murals designed for next world
The Egyptians paint murals on the walls of tombs, designed to help the occupants in the next world

3100 BC Egyptians write in hieroglyphs
The Egyptian hieroglyphic script develops at much the same time as the Sumerian cuneiform

3100 BC Pharaoh seen in personal triumph
The pharaoh Narmer celebrates a victory with a sculpted relief showing his personal dominance over the enemy

3000 BC Papyrus made from reeds
An easily portable writing surface is developed, from the papyrus plant of the Nile

3000 BC Leverage applied
The lever is in use in both Mesopotamia and Egypt

3000 BC Ass domesticated in Egypt
The ass, until now roaming wild from northeast Africa to Mesopotamia, is domesticated in Egypt

3000 BC Gold in use as currency
The earliest known currency, consisting of gold bars, is in use in Egypt and Mespotamia

3000 BC Earliest board game - senet
The world's earliest known board game, senet, is played in Egypt

2781 BC Egyptians invent calendar
Sirius rises in this year on the first day of the first Egyptian month - a rare event which possibly launches the Egyptian calendar system

2620 BC Chief minister builds pyramid for pharaoh
Imhotep creates the first pyramid - the 'step pyramid' at Saqqara - as a tomb for the pharaoh Djoser

2580 BC Old Kingdom in Egypt
Egypt enters the period known as the Old Kingdom, its first era of monumental architecture

2500 BC World's largest pyramid
The first and largest of the three great pyramids at Giza is built for the pharaoh Khufu, later known to the Greeks as Cheops

2500 BC Boat of cedar planks
A boat of cedar planks, some 44 metres long, is buried at Giza

2500 BC Sphinx carved from rock
The largest sculpture of the ancient world, a sphinx with the face of the pharaoh Khufu, is carved in situ at Giza

2500 BC Mummification introduced in Egypt
To preserve bodies in perpetuity, the Egyptian ruling class develops the elaborate and lengthy process of mummifying an eviscerated corpse

2500 BC Cats win meal ticket
It is not known when cats are first domesticated, but from the start of Egyptian civilization they are sacred animals in temples

2500 BC Household goods and servants in Egyptian tombs
To ensure continued comfort in the afterlife, rich Egyptians have models placed in their tombs of the necessary servants and utensils

2000 BC Middle Kingdom in Egypt
Mentuhotep II wins control of all Egypt, establishing the period known as the Middle Kingdom

2000 BC Bantu tribes move south through Africa
Bantu-speaking tribes begin to spread through Africa, from their original homelands south of the Sahara

2000 BC Khoisan inhabit most of Africa
Africa south of the equatorial forests is largely inhabited by the Khoisan, of whom the San and the Hottentots are the modern survivors

2000 BC Thebes becomes Egyptian capital
The centre of power in Egypt moves to the interior, with the capital at Thebes rather than Memphis

1850 BC Wrestling in Egypt
Wrestlers are painted on the walls of an Egyptian tomb, performing most of the holds and falls still in use today

1750 BC First exam question
The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, copied out by Ahmes, an Egyptian scribe, offers some of the world's first exam questions

1700 BC Hebrews captive in Egypt
The biblical account suggests that around this period the Hebrews are a captive tribe in Egypt

1630 BC Hyksos in Egypt
The Hyksos, arriving from the middle east, win control of Egypt and rule for a century

1550 BC Book of the Dead in Egypt
Egyptian tombs include paintings of a kind to help the occupants in the next world, whether in the Book of the Dead or on the walls

1540 BC New Kingdom in Egypt
The New Kingdom begins in Egypt, bringing the most spectacular of all the dynasties

1540 BC Osiris gives promise of resurrection
The god Osiris, in his tall white headdress, represents in Egyptian tombs the idea of resurrection in the next world

1520 BC Pharaoh pushes far up Nile
Thutmose I extends Egyptian control as far up the Nile as Abu Hamad

1500 BC Trumpets in Egypt
A copper trumpet is in use in Egypt, forerunner of the brass instruments of the orchestra

1500 BC Jews adopt circumcision
The Jews adopt a long-established Egyptian ritual - the circumcision of boys

1500 BC Columns of Karnak and Luxor
The temples of Karnak and Luxor, in ancient Thebes, introduce the massive stone architecture of column and lintel

1500 BC Amen and Re merge as super-god
The gods Amen and Re are merged at Thebes as Amen-Re, the most important deity in the Egyptian pantheon

1490 BC Female pharaoh in Egypt
Hatshepsut takes power in Egypt, and is unusual in being a female pharaoh

1450 BC Coloured glass an Egyptian luxury
Rich Egyptian households have the latest luxury items, small bottles of coloured glass to hold cosmetics

1400 BC Water clock in Egypt
The clepsydra, or water clock, is developed in Egypt

1380 BC Great temple at Luxor
The pharaoh Amenhotep III commissions the great temple to Amen-Re at Luxor

1353 BC Amenhotep becomes Akhenaten
The Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep IV adopts a new deity, Aten, and changes his name to Akhenaten

1350 BC Akhenaten builds new city
The pharaoh Akhenaten creates a new capital city on the Nile at Tell el Amarna

1345 BC Amarna letters
The Amarna letters, an invaluable collection of cuneiform tablets, are written at the court of the pharaoh Akhenaten

1340 BC Nefertiti sits for her portrait
One of the regular sitters to the court sculptor Thutmose is the pharaoh's wife, Nefertiti

1333 BC Tutankhaten becomes Tutankhamun
With the return to favour of the god Amen, the young Tutankhaten's name is changed to Tutankhamun

1324 BC Tutankhamun is buried
The young Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun, dies and is buried in a suitable tomb

1279 BC Ramses II begins long reign
Ramses II, perhaps the greatest of Egypt's pharaohs, begins a reign of sixty-six years

1275 BC Hittites and Egyptians clash at Kadesh
An indecisve battle between the Hittites and the Egyptians, at Kadesh, stabilizes the frontier between the two empires

1250 BC Temple at Abu Simbel
Ramses II creates a spectacular temple in his own honour at Abu Simbel

950 BC Libyan dynasty in Egypt
Libyans in the Egyptian army take control of the nation and rule as pharaohs

814 BC Carthage founded
The traditional date of the founding of Carthage (supposedly by the mythical queen Dido, but in practice by Phoenicians)

800 BC Sundial in Egypt
The earliest surviving sundial is in use in Egypt

719 BC Cushite dynasty in Egypt
The king of Cush, or Nubia, conquers down the Nile to the sea, establishing the Cushite dynasty

700 BC Simpler hieroglyphs
Egyptian scribes develop an abbreviated version of hieroglyphs for everyday use, in the script known as demotic ('for the people')

663 BC Assyrians invade Egypt
The Egyptian city of Memphis falls to an Assyrian army, soon to be followed by Thebes

612 BC Egyptians defeated by Babylonians
The Babylonians defeat an Egyptian army at Carchemish, but do not press on into Egypt

600 BC Isis reassembles her husband
Isis, who is able to restore her husband Osiris after he has been chopped into pieces, becomes one of the most popular deities in Egypt

600 BC Phoenicians sail round Africa
Phoenicians sail round the Cape of Good Hope and bring back the surprising news that the sun was seen to the north of them

550 BC Carthaginian colony on Atlantic coast
Larache is founded as a Carthaginian colony on the Atlantic coast of Africa

525 BC Persians invade Egypt
The Persians defeat an Egyptian army at Pelusium and then capture Memphis

515 BC Darius links Nile and Red Sea
The Persian emperor Darius I constructs a canal linking the Nile to the Red Sea

500 BC First Ethiopian kingdom
The rulers of Aksum, the first Ethiopian kingdom, claim descent from Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

500 BC Nok terracotta figures
Nok terracotta figures, found in modern Nigeria, stand at the beginning of the rich tradition of African sculpture

460 BC Greeks support revolt in Egypt
Forces of the Delian League assist the Egyptians in a successful revolt against their Persian rulers

454 BC Greek disaster on Nile
The Greeks suffer a major reverse when their fleet is trapped on the Nile and destroyed by the Persians

450 BC Herodotus inspects mummy
The Greek historian Herodotus visits Egypt and provides, among many other details, an account of the process of mummification

332 BC Alexander founds Alexandria
While in Egypt, Alexander founds Alexandria – the best known of the many towns he establishes to spread Greek culture

from 323 BC Alexander's legacy - the Hellenistic age
The spread of Greek rule by Alexander introduces the Hellenistic age, which will last for three centuries

323 BC Ptolemy rules in Egypt
In the carve up of Alexander the Great's empire, Ptolemy wins Egypt and founds the Ptolemaic dynasty – with himself as the pharaoh Ptolemy I

322 BC Alexander's corpse in Alexandria
Alexander's corpse, hijacked by Ptolemy, becomes a sacred relic in Alexandria

320 BC Ptolemy founds museum
Ptolemy begins to transform Alexandria into a centre of Greek culture, founding his famous 'museum' and library

300 BC Euclid teaches geometry
Euclid, teaching at the museum in Alexandria, writes what becomes Europe's standard textbook on geometry

280 BC Jewish diaspora in Alexandria
The Jewish community of Alexandria coins the word diaspora for Jews living far from Israel

280 BC Human vivisection in Alexandria
The Alexandrian school of medicine develops an alarming form of clinical anatomy – human vivisection

280 BC Lighthouse at Alexandria
A great lighthouse, subsequently one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is built on the island of Pharos, off Alexandria

280 BC Septuagint in Alexandria
The Jews of Alexandria commission the Greek translation of the Old Testament which becomes known as the Septuagint

264 BC First Punic War
A clash in Sicily, between Rome and Carthage, leads to the First Punic War

260 BC Early library catalogue
The 500,000 scrolls in the library at Alexandria are listed in a catalogue, which itself runs to 120 scrolls

260 BC Rapid-response fleet for Rome
A Carthaginian quinquereme, captured by the Romans, is used as the model for the first Roman fleet - constructed in two months

250 BC Mechanical organ in Alexandria
The organ, using a mechanical device to pump air through a set of musical pipes, is invented in Alexandria by Ctesibius

250 BC Alchemy in Alexandria
The first alchemists, working in Alexandria, are also the world's first experimental chemists

241 BC End of First Punic War
A Roman naval victory at Trapani, off the northwest tip of Sicily, completes the blockade of the Carthaginians and ends the First Punic War

218 BC Hannibal crosses Alps
Hannibal crosses the Alps with his elephants, beginning the Second Punic War

202 BC Hannibal loses at Zama
Hannibal suffers his first decisive defeat by a Roman army, at an unidentified site in north Africa called Zama

196 BC Text inscribed on Rosetta Stone
The text of the Rosetta stone is chiselled into a black basalt slab in the three scripts hieroglyphic Egyptian, demotic Egyptian, and Greek

149 BC Third Punic War
Rome picks a quarrel with Carthage to begin the Third Punic War

146 BC Destruction of Carthage ends Punic Wars
Carthage is destroyed by the Romans at the end of the Third Punic War

80 BC Pompey is Great
The 26-year-old Pompey conducts such a successful campaign in Africa that his soldiers hail him as Pompey the Great

51 BC Cleopatra rules
In the Ptolemaic tradition, Cleopatra marries her brother Ptolemy XIII and at the age of eighteen is joint ruler of Egypt

48 BC Caesar dallies with Cleopatra
Julius Caesar, now fifty-two, meets the 21-year-old Cleopatra in Alexandria and they become lovers

46 BC Caesar founds town at Carthage
A town is founded by Julius Caesar on the ruined site of Carthage, and eventually flourishes as Colonia Julia Carthago

30 BC Asp in Cleopatra's bosom
Cleopatra commits suicide, applying a poisonous asp to her breast,

30 BC Rome controls Mediterranean
With the annexation of Egypt, the entire Mediterranean falls under Roman control

50
The earliest surviving written text provides evidence of the Mahayana version of Buddhism, which today is the largest of the Buddhist sects

69 Vespasian proclaimed emperor
Vespasian, proclaimed emperor by his troops in Alexandria, is the survivor among this year's four emperors

75 Hero uses steam
Hero, a Greek scientist in Alexandria, devises various forms of steam engine

75 Hero invents theodolite
The dioptra, developed by Hero of Alexandria for surveying land, is an early form of theodolite

100 Isis acquires a following in Rome
A cult develops in Rome of the Egyptian goddess Isis, credited with restoring to life her hushand, Osiris, after he has been hacked to pieces

100 Roman portraits in hot wax
Realistic portraits, done in hot wax and preserved in coffins at Fayyum, vividly depict inhabitants of Roman Egypt

150 Ptolemy sums up science
Ptolemy writes in Alexandria an encyclopedic account of Greek scientific theory in cosmology, astronomy and geography

244 Plotinus moves to Rome
Plotinus, moving from Alexandria to Rome, teaches the influential philosophy later known as Neo-Platonism

250 Very old Roman socks
Roman socks, surviving in dry Egyptian tombs, are the earliest known examples of knitting

258 Cyprian martyred in Carthage
Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, is one of many Christians martyred for refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods

300 Anthony hallucinates in desert
St Anthony, one of the early Christian hermits in the Egyptian desert, is tempted by terrifying hallucinations

320 First Christian monastery
Pachomius organizes in Egypt the first community of Christian monks, at Dandara on the Nile

350 Cushite dynasty fades in Nubia
The Cushite dynasty fades away in Nubia, after lasting for 1000 years or more

350 Christian bishop in Ethiopia
Frumentius, brought to Ethiopia as a slave, becomes the kingdom's first Christian bishop

367 New Testament - contents agreed
A document is distributed by the bishop of Alexandria, formally establishing the contents of the New Testament

380 Earliest surviving New Testament
The Codex Sinaiticus, the earliest surviving manuscript of the complete New Testament, is copied out - probably in Egypt

400 Chaste, but not yet
St Augustine reveals that as a young man, studying and teaching in Carthage, he often prayed for 'chastity and continence, but not yet'

413 Augustine emphasizes City of God
Prompted by the fall of Rome to the Visigoths, St Augustine undertakes a great work of Christian philosophy, the City of God

439 Vandals capture Carthage
Gaiseric captures Carthage and makes it his base for Vandal raids across the Mediterranean

533 Belisarius wins back Carthage
The Byzantine general Belisarius recovers Carthage from the Vandals

535 World's first castles
Belisarius, conquering the Vandals in north Africa, pioneers the strategic concept of the castle

543 Christianity in Sudan
Christianity reaches the kingdom of Dongola, in present-day Sudan

642 Muslims capture Alexandria
The unopposed capture of Alexandria by the Arabs completes the Muslim conquest of Egypt

643 Coptic Christians isolated
The Coptic Christians of Egypt become isolated after the Muslim conquest

670 Muslim garrison at Kairouan
The Arabs establish a garrison town at Kairouan, as a base for the conquest of northwest Africa

698 Carthage destroyed by Muslims
Carthage is captured from the Byzantines by the Arabs and is finally destroyed, though Tunis will later rise nearby

700 New town for African slave trade
The African slave trade through the Sahara is so extensive that a new town, Zawila, is established as a trading station

700 Kingdom of Ghana
The ancient kingdom of Ghana is the first to be established at the southern end of the Saharan trade routes

711 Muslims cross into Spain
Muslim Arabs cross from north Africa into Spain and drive the Visigoths from Toledo

780 Islam in east Africa
Islam reaches Shanga, off the east coast of Africa, with the building of a tiny wooden mosque

828 Bones of St Mark
The Venetians, acquiring from Alexandria some bones believed to be those of St Mark, build St Mark's to house the valuable relic

862 Mosque at Kairouan acquires dome
During refurbishment of the mosque at Kairouan, in north Africa, a high fluted dome is added

870 Mameluke seizes power in Egypt
Ahmad ibn Tulun, a Mameluke, seizes power in Egypt - establishing his own Tulunid dynasty

969 Cairo founded by Fatimids
The Fatimids establish a new capital city on the Nile, calling it Al Kahira ('the victorious'), which becomes reduced to Cairo

1000 Salt mines of Sahara
The salt mines of the Sahara provide a staple commodity in the African caravan trade

1000 Mapungubwe on the Limpopo
A trading centre at Mapungubwe, on the Limpopo, evolves into a state ruled by a king in a zimbabwe

1050 Islam reaches Lake Chad
Islam reaches Kanem-Bornu, a joint kingdom encompassing the eastern and western shores of Lake Chad

1050 Islam reaches Kilwa
A Muslim dynasty is established at Kilwa, on the east African coast

1050 Kingdom of Ife
Ife emerges as a powerful kingdom in the equatorial forest of the lower Niger

1062 Almoravids in Marrakech
Berber tribesmen, the Almoravids, establish a base at Marrakech from which they conquer northwest Africa and move into Spain

1147 Almohads capture Marrakech
Rival Berber tribesmen, the Almohads, evict the Almoravids from Marrakech and soon conquer the whole north African coast

1171 Saladin rules in Egypt
Saladin deposes the Fatimid caliph and brings Egypt back to orthodoxy, acknowledging the rule of the Sunni caliph in Baghdad

1180 Maimonides in Cairo
In Cairo the Jewish philosoper Moses Maimonides writes, in Arabic, a much translated text with the endearing title Guide to the Perplexed

1200 Terracotta figures in Jenne
Terracotta heads and figures are buried in graves in the region of Djenné in modern Mali

1219 St Francis in Egypt
St Francis of Assisi joins a crusading army in Egypt and attempts to convert the sultan Melek-el-Kamel and his followers to Christianity

1240 Kingdom of Mali
A warlord, Sundiata, conquers Ghana and establishes the kingdom of Mali

1250 Great Zimbabwe
The kingdom of Great Zimbabwe displaces Mapungubwe as the dominant Shona power in this region of southern Africa

1250 Brass sculpture of Ife
The Yoruba people of Ife create extraordinary sculptures in brass

1250 Mamelukes rule again in Egypt
The last sultan of Saladin's dynasty is murdered by slaves in the palace guard, and Mameluke rule is reintroduced in Egypt

1269 Marinids take Marrakech
The Marinids, a Berber tribe, take Marrakech and bring to an end Almohad rule in Morocco

1270 Assassins destroyed by Mamelukes
The Assassins are systematically destroyed by Baybars, the Mameluke sultan of Egypt

1315 Islam replaces Christianity in Sudan
Islam replaces Christianity as the religion of the kings of Dongola, in present-day Sudan

1324 Mansa Musa impresses Cairo
Mansa Musa, sultan of the gold-rich African state of Mali, is so lavish in Cairo (on his way to Mecca) that the value of Egyptian gold slumps

1325 Ibn Batutah leaves home
Ibn Batutah leaves his home in Morocco to go on pilgrimage to Mecca, and continues travelling for 24 years

1329 Prester John now in Ethiopia
A friar, who has failed to find Prester John in the east, publishes a book proving that the fabulous king lives in Ethiopia

1446 Portugal claims Guinea
Portugal claims ownership of the region of Guinea, subsequently the centre of their slave trade on the west African coast

1450 Ethiopian coffee in Arabia
Coffee, derived from wild plants in Ethiopia, is cultivated in Arabia

1466 Slaving monopoly for Portuguese settlers
The Portuguese settlers on the Cape Verde islands are granted a monopoly on the new slave trade

1480 Maravi Confederacy rules north of Zambezi
The Maravi Confederacy is formed by Bantu tribes and soon wins control over a large region between Lake Nyasa and the Zambezi

1480 Songhay benefit at expense of Mali
An increase in trade through the central Sahara benefits the Songhay, with their capital at Gao, at the expense of Mali

1483 Portuguese in Angola
The Portuguese establish a further presence on the west coast of Africa, at the mouth of the Congo river

1488 Dias rounds Cape for Portugal
Bartolomeu Dias, sailing for the king of Portugal, becomes the first European navigator to round the Cape of Good Hope

1492 French plunder Portuguese
A French privateer off the west coast of Ghana is the first to plunder a Portuguese vessel carrying home African gold

1500 Portuguese in Mozambique
The Portuguese establish trading posts in east Africa, on the coast of Mozambique

1503 Portuguese trade from Zanzibar
The Portuguese set up a trading post on the east African island of Zanzibar

1517 Ottomans end Mameluke rule
The Ottoman sultan, Selim I, captures Cairo and ends Mameluke rule in the middle east

1530 Muslim holy war against Ethiopia
Ahmad ibn Ibrahim leads Muslim Somalis in a holy war against Christian Ethiopia, destroying churches and shrines

1550 African slaves shipped to America
Africans, bought in the Portuguese trading posts of west Africa, are shipped across the Atlantic as slaves

1570 Ashanti kingdom in Ghana
The Ashanti establish a powerful kingdom in present-day Ghana, with their capital at Kumasi

1600 Yoruba empire centres on Oyo
The Yoruba develop an extensive empire centred on Oyo in southern Nigeria

1609 Moriscos shipped from Spain to Africa
A law is passed expelling the Moriscos from Spain, with the result that some 300,000 are shipped to north Africa

1625 Dahomey kingdom founded
Three brothers among the Dahomey people establish a long-lasting kingdom in the Bight of Benin

1638 French trading station in Senegal
The French build a trading station on the estuary of the Senegal river in west Africa

1652 Dutch in South Africa
Jan van Riebeeck establishes a Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope

1657 Dutch in South Africa purchase slaves
The Dutch in South Africa purchase slaves to do domestic and agricultural work

1661 British fort on the Gambia
The British establish Fort James on an island in the Gambia river

1698 Omanis take Zanzibar
A fleet from Oman evicts the Portuguese from Mombasa and Zanzibar

1775 Trekboers move north
Dutch nomads, pressing far north from Cape Town, become known as the Trekboers

1787 Freed slaves in Sierra Leone
A British ship lands a party of freed slaves as the first modern settlers in Sierra Leone, on the west coast of Africa

1795 Mungo Park reaches Niger river
Mungo Park sets off on his first expedition to explore the Niger on behalf of the African Association

1795 British seize Cape Town
With the Dutch entering the war on the side of the French, Britain seizes their valuable Cape colony in South Africa

1798 Battle of the Pyramids
Napoleon's campaign in Egypt begins well with the Battle of the Pyramids, a victory over an Egyptian army

1798 Battle of the Nile
Disaster strikes the French in Egypt when Nelson finds their fleet in Aboukir Bay and destroys it in the Battle of the Nile

1799 Rosetta Stone is found
Napoleon's soldiers discover a black basalt slab, the Rosetta Stone, near the village of Rashid in Egypt

1799 Napoleon sees his chance
Napoleon abandons his army in Egypt and returns hastily to Paris at a time of great political opportunity

1802 Cape reverts to Dutch rule
The Treaty of Amiens restores the Cape of Good Hope to the Netherlands

1803 US warship seized by Barbary pirates
The USS Philadelphia is captured, with its 300 crew, in the first Barbary War between the US and north African pirate states

1806 British recapture Cape from Dutch
The British recapture the Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch

1808 Sierra Leone in fight against slave trade
The British government uses Freetown, in Sierra Leone, as a base in the fight against the slave trade

1809 Hottentot Code at the Cape
The British impose the so-called Hottentot Code, protecting Africans at the Cape but also tying them to employers' farms

1811 Massacre of guests in Cairo
All but one of 300 Mameluke guests are assassinated during an entertainment by Muhammad Ali in Cairo

1815 Cape is British
The congress of Vienna leaves the Cape of Good Hope in British hands

1815 Napoleon sent to St Helena
Napoleon is sent to a more secure place of exile, the rocky Atlantic island of St Helena

1816 Shaka leads the Zulu
Shaka wins control of the Zulu and begins to build them into a formidable military machine

1816 British anti-slavery post at Bathurst
The British establish Bathurst (now Banjul) at the mouth of the Gambia as a base against the slave trade

1820 British settlers shipped to Cape
The first big influx of British settlers, numbering some 5000, arrives at Cape Town in South Africa

1821 Egyptian base at Khartoum
An Egyptian army makes its camp at Khartoum, subsequently the capital of an Egyptian province in the Sudan

1821 Napoleon dies
Napoleon dies on St Helena, after six years of captivity

1821 African territory for freed US slaves
The American Colonization Society buys the area later known as Liberia to settle freed slaves

1822 Hieroglyphs deciphered
Egyptian hieroglyphs are deciphered by French Egyptologist Jean François Champollion, using the Rosetta stone

1822 Mzilikazi leads Ndebele west
Mzilikazi, after a quarrel with Shaka, leads the Ndebele people to new territories west of Natal

1822 Freed slaves reach Liberia
The first shipload of freed slaves reaches Cape Mesurado (in the region soon called Liberia) from the USA

1827 Fly whisk ends French-Algerian harmony
The Turkish governor of Algiers, flicking at the French consul with his fly whisk, finds that he has provoked a French blockade and eventually invasion

1828 Shaka murdered by half-brother Dingaan
Shaka is murdered by his half-brother Dingaan, who becomes leader of the Zulu in his place

1830 French army invades Algeria
A French army invades Algeria, beginning the process which brings the region within the French empire

1832 Iron ship steams to Africa
The paddle steamer Alburkah becomes the first ocean-going iron ship, completing the journey from England to the Niger

1832 Delacroix vists north Africa
French painter Eugène Delacroix begins a five-month visit to north Africa, with profound effects on his future art

1836 Boers on Great Trek
Hendrik Potgieter sets off with some 200 Boers and their cattle at the start of the Great Trek to the north

1836 Angolan slave trade ends
The Portuguese ban the shipping of slaves from the coast of Angola

1836 Boer victory at Vegkop
Hendrik Potgieter and the Boers, protected by a laager at Vegkop, hold off an attack by a large force of Ndebele tribesmen

1837 Boers massacre Ndebele
After a victory at Vegkop, Boers massacre the inhabitants of a dozen Ndebele villages in secret dawn raids

1837 Retief leads Great Trek
Piet Retief emerges as the new leader of the Great Trek, replacing Potgieter

1837 Boers drive Ndebele north of Limpopo
Potgieter defeats the Ndebele at the Marico river and drives them north of the Limpopo

1837 Retief strikes bargain with Dingaan
Piet Retief reaches a provisional agreement with Dingaan, the Zulu leader, for a Boer settlement in southern Natal

1837 Omani empire ruled from Zanzibar
Zanzibar becomes the main place of residence of the sultan of Oman

1838 Retief killed by Dingaan
During a ceremony to celebrate their treaty with Dingaan, Piet Retief and his Boer companions are overpowered and killed

1838 Boer families massacred
Dingaan's warriors massacre Boer families in a series of dawn raids near the Bloukrans river

1838 Zulu die in thousands at Blood river
The river Ncome becomes known as the Blood River after thousands of Zulu die attacking Andries Pretorius and the Boers

1839 Holy war proclaimed against French in Algeria
Abd-el-Kader proclaims a holy war against the French in Algeria and begins a military campaign that will last for eight years

1839 Pretorius establishes Natalia
Andries Pretorius sets up the Boer republic of Natalia, with its capital at Pietermaritzburg

1840 Dingaan replaced on throne
With Boer help, Mpande removes his brother Dingaan from the Zulu throne and takes his place

1840 Mohammed Ali rules
Muhammad Ali, officially viceroy for the Turkish sultan, establishes his own ruling dynasty on the throne of Egypt

1841 British campaign against slave trade in west Africa
Britain sends four naval ships up the river Niger to make anti-slavery treaties with local kings

1843 Natal declared British protectorate
The British take control of the existing Boer republic and proclaim Natal a British protectorate

1847 Pretorius leads Boers out of Natal
Pretorius leads the last Boer families out of Natal and over the Drakensberg to the high veld

1847 Liberia becomes independent
Liberia wins independence and international recognition as a republic

1848 Orange River Sovereignty claimed for Britain
Harry Smith annexes for Britain the land between the Orange and Vaal rivers, calling it the Orange River Sovereignty

1850 British buy out Danes on Gold Coast
The British government buys the Danish fortresses on the Gold Coast, including Christiansborg castle in Accra

1853 Livingstone slogs west from Zambezi
David Livingstone makes a heroic six-month journey from the Zambezi river to the west coast of Africa

1854 Orange Free State
The Boers establish the Orange Free State as an independent republic, with its own custom-built constitution

1854 Quinine proves effective against malaria
William Baikie, on an expedition up the Niger, protects his men from malaria by administering quinine

1854 De Lesseps wins canal contract
Ferdinand de Lesseps is granted the concession to construct a canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea

1855 Theodore II in Ethiopia
An Ethiopian baron usurps the throne and proclaims himself emperor, as Theodore II

1857 South African Republic
The Boers of the southern Transvaal declare independence as the South African Republic

1861 Lagos a British colony
Lagos, on the coast of Nigeria, is annexed as a British colony when the royal family prove unable or unwilling to end the slave trade