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

1888 Rhodes wins mining rights
The Ndebele chieftain, Lobengula, grants Rhodes mining rights in what is now Zimbabwe

1890 Colonists for Rhodesia
Cecil Rhodes sends colonists to settle the newly won colony of Rhodesia

1893 Jameson goes to war in Rhodesia
Leander Jameson, finding a pretext for war, drives Lobengula out of his kingdom in Rhodesia

1895 Rhodesia honours Rhodes
The territory south of the Zambezi is given the name Rhodesia, in honour of the man who has colonized it

1909 Copper Belt discovered
Mineral discoveries on the border of Northern Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo give the first hint of the riches of the Copper Belt

1923 Rhodesia is self-governing colony
Rhodesia becomes a self-governing colony with political power exclusively in the hands of European settlers

1953 Rhodesias and Nyasaland merge
The two Rhodesias and Nyasaland are merged in the self-governing Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

1961 Nkomo founds ZAPU
Joshua Nkomo founds ZAPU, the Zimbabwe African People's Union, in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia

1962 Smith wins power in Rhodesia
Ian Smith's white supremacist party, the Rhodesian Front, wins power in Rhodesia's election

1963 Mugabe and Sithole establish ZANU
Robert Mugabe and Ndabaningi Sithole split from ZAPU to found ZANU, the Zimbabwe African National Union

1963 Rhodesias and Nyasaland demerge
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved, as the three colonies go their separate ways

1964 Smith arrests African leaders
Ian Smith, now prime minister of Rhodesia, arrests leading black politicians Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe

1965 Smith declares UDI
Ian Smith makes a unilateral declaration of Rhodesia's independence

1968 Sanctions against Rhodesia
The United Nations, with the approval of Britain as the colonial power, imposes economic sanctions on Rhodesia

1979 Muzorewa is Rhodesian prime minister
The first multiracial elections held in Rhodesia are won by bishop Abel Muzorewa

1979 Lancaster House agreement
A conference in London, at Lancaster House, finally achieves agreement on Southern Rhodesia

1980 Mugabe leads independent Zimbabwe
Rhodesia becomes independent, taking the name Zimbabwe, with Robert Mugabe as prime minister

1998 Farms seized in Zimbabwe
Violent gangs, calling themselves the Mugabe War Veterans Association, start to 'liberate' more than 100,000 sq km of white-owned farmland in Zimbabwe

2017 November 15 Mugabe exits power in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is placed under house arrest, as the military take control of the country. He resigns six days later, after 37 years of rule