207 BC Nam-Viet gets Chinese king
A delegate from imperial China establishes the kingdom of Nam-Viet with himself as king

1150 Khmer dynasty and Angkor Wat
The city of Angkor and the great temple of Angkor Wat are created by the Khmer dynasty in Cambodia

1858 French involvement in Vietnam
Napoleon III sends forces to capture the port of Da Nang, beginning the French colonization of Vietnam

1887 French Indochina
France brings Cambodia and Vietnam into a federation of protectorates under the title French Indochina

1941  May 19 Vietminh founded
The Vietminh is founded as a guerrilla force to liberate Vietnam from the Japanese, and Ho Chi Minh soon emerges as the leader

1945 August 19 Vietminh take Hanoi
With the surrender of the Japanese, Vietminh guerrillas seize the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi

1945 September 2 Ho Chi Minh declares independence from France
Ho Chi Minh proclaims the democratic republic of Vietnam, independent of the colonial power, France

1946 Colonial war in Vietnam
The Indochina War breaks out in Vietnam between the French colonial forces and the Vietminh

1954 Capa killed in Vietnam
Hungarian photographer Robert Capa is killed by a land mine in Vietnam

1954 French defeat at Dien Bien Phu
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends with the surrender to the Vietminh of 12,000 French troops

1954 French pull out of Vietnam
The French abandon Vietnam, leaving the country divided at the seventeenth parallel

1954 Independence for Indochina
In an armistice ending the Indochina War, France acknowledges the independence of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

1955 The Quiet American
Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American is set in contemporary Vietnam and foresees troubles ahead

1955 South Vietnam an independent republic
With US backing, South Vietnam declares itself an independent republic

1960 Vietcong is formed
The Vietcong, or NLF, is formed as a guerrilla force to liberate South Vietnam from the US-backed government

1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident
A reported incident in the Gulf of Tonkin triggers US intervention against North Vietnam, in a significant step towards the Vietnam War

1965 US bombs North Vietnam
US President Lyndon Johnson launches a regular bombing campaign against North Vietnam

1965 US ground troops in Vietnam
The Vietnam War enters a new dimension with the deployment of US ground troops in the country

1965 Australian troops to Vietnam
Australia sends a first contingent of 1500 troops to fight in Vietnam

1968 Tet offensive
The Vietcong launch widespread attacks on South Vietnamese cities during the Tet (lunar new year) holiday

1968 My Lai
US soldiers massacre hundreds of unarmed civilians in the Vietnamese village of My Lai

1968 Mailer's Armies of the Night
Norman Mailer publishes The Armies of the Night, based on his experiences on an anti-Vietnam demonstration in Washington in October 1967

1970 M*A*S*H*
US film director Robert Altman launches a successful and long-running theme with his Vietnam black comedy, M*A*S*H

1970 Student deaths at Kent State
Four students are killed by National Guards during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration at Kent State University in Ohio

1971 Laos invaded
US and South Vietnamese troops cross the border to invade Laos

1971 Pentagon Papers
Evidence of official deception concerning US involvement in Vietnam is published in the New York Times as the Pentagon Papers

1973 Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords end the US combat role in Vietnam, with nothing achieved and millions dead

1973 US troope leave Vietnam
The last US troops leave Vietnam, ending American involvement in a continuing war between the north and south of the country

1975 Saigon falls
The South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, is taken by North Vietnamese forces

1975 South Vietnam surrenders
South Vietnam surrenders, as President Duong Van Minh broadcasts an order to all South Viernames forces to lay down their arms

1978 Vietnam invades Cambodia
Vietnamese forces invade Cambodia, driving out Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge

2003 First reported case of SARS
A deadly new form of pneumonia, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is first reported in Hanoi and soon spreads globally

2014 May 18
A sudden violent outbreak of Vietnamese resentment of China, over a territorial dispute, causes China to evacuate thousands of its citizens