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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1862 Speke and Grant reach Ripon Falls
Speke and Grant find the Ripon Falls, over which the headwater of the Nile flows from Lake Tanganyika

1869 Southern Sudan made Egyptian province
British explorer Samuel Baker annexes the southern Sudan, or Equatoria, on behalf of the khedive of Egypt

1873 Slave trade ends in Zanzibar
The British consul in Zanzibar persuades the sultan to end the island's notorious slave trade

1883 Mahdi victorious in Sudan
Mohammed Ahmed, proclaiming himself the Mahdi, defeats three Egyptian armies in the Sudan

1884 Gordon marches to protect Khartoum
General Gordon marches south to protect Khartoum from the advancing forces of the Mahdi

1884 Peters in east Africa for German empire
Karl Peters hurries round east Africa persuading chiefs to accept the German emperor as their protector

1884 Wolseley heads south to relieve Khartoum
British general Garnet Wolseley sails from London on a mission to rescue Gordon, trapped by the Mahdi in Khartoum

1885 Peters granted east African charter
Bismarck grants Karl Peters a charter to rule a German protectorate in east Africa

1885 Italians occupy Eritrea
Italian troops occupy Eritrea, a province of Ethiopia

1885 German warships threaten Zanzibar
German warships arrive in Zanzibar harbour to persuade the sultan to cede territory to the Kaiser, William I

1886 Addis Ababa founded
Addis Ababa is founded, to become subsequently the capital of Ethiopia

1886 Carve up in east Africa
Germany and Britain define neighbouring spheres of interest in east Africa

1886 Border fixed between Tanzania and Kenya
The German and British agreement in east Africa creates the present-day boundary between Tanzania and Kenya

1888 Kenya assigned to British company
The Imperial British East Africa Company is given a charter to adminster Kenya and Uganda

1889 Menelik II is emperor
Menelik II is crowned emperor in Ethiopia, bringing the crown back to the Solomon dynasty

1889 Ethiopia cedes Eritrea to Italy
In the treaty of Uccialli, Menelik II cedes the Ethiopian province of Eritrea to Italy

1890 Zanzibar a British protectorate
Zanzibar, under its Arab sultan, is declared a British protectorate

1891 German East Africa is protectorate
Germany takes direct control of German East Africa as a protectorate

1892 Protestant-Catholic warfare in Kampala
Frederick Lugard's Maxim machine gun settles a Protestant-Catholic clash in Kampala, the capital of Buganda

1895 Kenya is British protectorate
The British government takes responsibility for Kenya, as the East Africa Protectorate

1896 Ethiopians defeat Italians at Aduwa
The Ethiopian emperor, Menelik II, inflicts a shattering defeat on Italian forces at Aduwa

1896 Uganda Protectorate formed by Britain
Britain unites Buganda and three other kingdoms into the single Uganda Protectorate

1896 Ogaden goes to Ethiopia
Italy, one of the local colonial powers, accepts Ethiopia's claim to the Ogaden region of the Somali territory

1897 Germany claims Ruanda-Urundi
Germany claims Ruanda and Urundi as a joint colony adjacent to German East Africa

1898 Churchill with Lancers at Omdurman
Winston Churchill gallops into battle with the Twenty-First Lancers at Omdurman

1898 Fashoda incident in Sudan
French and British forces meet at Fashoda, in a potentially explosive incident in the scramble for Africa

1898 Omdurman ends Mahdist rule in Sudan
Kitchener's victory at Omdurman brings to an end thirteen years of rule in Sudan by followers of the Mahdi

1899 Britain and Egypt share rule in Sudan
The Sudan begins half a century of supposedly joint rule by Britain and Egypt

1899 Mad Mullah troubles British
Mohammed ibn Abdullah (the Mad Mullah in British eyes) leads an uprising in British Somaliland

1905 Maji-Maji rising
The Maji-Maji rising results in alarming outbreaks of violence in German East Africa

1905 Germans use famine against Maji-Maji rebels
The German commander in east Africa uses famine as a means of ending the Maji-Maji rising

1916 Ras Tafari in palace coup
Ras Tafari, a member of the Ethiopian imperial family, deposes his distant relation the emperor and puts on the throne his aunt, Zauditu

1918 November 23 German hero surrenders in east Africa
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, commander of the German army in East Africa, surrenders after four stubborn years of resistance

1919 June 28 Britain to administer Tanganyika
German East Africa is to be governed by Britain as Tanganyika, under a League of Nations mandate

1921 Young Kikuyu Association
The Young Kikuyu Association is formed in Kenya, to fight for African rights and the restoration of Kikuyu land

1924 Belgian mandate for Ruanda-Urundi
The League of Nations grants Belgium a mandate to administer the former Germany colony of Ruanda-Urundi

1928 Kenyatta edits Kikuyu newspaper
Jomo Kenyatta becomes the editor of Muigwithania, the newspaper of the Kikuyu Central Association

1930 Haile Selassie
The regent Ras Tafari becomes emperor of Ethiopia and takes the name Haile Selassie

1935 Italy invades Ethiopia
Mussolini uses a disagreement over grazing rights as a pretext for an empire-building invasion of Ethiopia

1936 Italians take control in Ethiopia
The Italian forces invading Ethiopia reach Addis Ababa, and Haile Selassie flees into exile

1937 Blixen's Out of Africa
Danish author Karen Blixen publishes her autobiographical novel Out of Africa

1941  April 6 Italians evicted from Ethiopia
The Allies recover Ethiopia from the Italians and Haile Selassie returns to his throne in Addis Ababa

1952 Eritrea retains autonomy within Ethiopia
A decision by the United Nations makes Eritrea an autonomous federal province within Ethiopia

1952 Mau Mau terrorize Kenya
An outbreak of terrorism in Kenya is orchestrated by a secret Kikuyu organization, the Mau Mau

1953 Kenyatta gaoled
Jomo Kenyatta, charged with having organized the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya, is sentenced to seven years in prison

1956 Civil war in Sudan
Civil war breaks out in Sudan between the Muslim north and the Christian south

1959 Hutu atrocities against Tutsis
Rwanda suffers the first nationwide outbreak of Hutu violence against Tutsis

1960 Independence for Somalia
British and Italian colonies merge as the independent Somali republic, also known as Somalia, with Aden Abdullah Osman as president

1960 Kenyatta leads KANU
Kenyatta, still in prison, is elected leader of KANU, a new political party in Kenya

1961 Tanganyika independent
Tanganyika becomes an independent nation with Julius Nyerere as prime minister

1962 Eritrea merged with Ethiopia
The Eritrean parliament votes to merge fully with Ethiopia, ending Eritrean autonomy

1962 Uganda wins independence
The former British colony of Uganda becomes an independent republic, with Milton Obote as prime minister

1963 OAU founded in Addis Ababa
The OAU (Organization of African Unity) is founded in Addis Ababa to give Africa a united voice in world affairs

1963 Tutsis massacred
An invasion of Rwanda by Tutsi guerrillas prompts the first major Hutu massacre of Tutsis

1963 Zanzibar independent
Zanzibar becomes an independent nation and a member of the Commonwealth

1963 Kenyatta leads independent Kenya
Kenya becomes independent, with Jomo Kenyatta as prime minister

1971 Amin topples Obote in coup
Idi Amin leads a successful coup against the president of Uganda, Milton Obote

1972 Tutsis slaughter Hutus in Burundi
In an orgy of ethnic slaughter in Burundi, Tutsis klll some 100,000 Hutus

1973 Coup in Rwanda
Winning power in a military coup, Juvenal Habyarimana begins a 21-year spell as dictator in Rwanda

1974 Dergue takes power
An uprising organized in Ethiopia by the Dergue results in the arrest of Haile Selassie and his murder a year later

1976 Million-year-old human footprints
Mary Leakey and her team find footprints, about 3.6 million years old, of bipedal hominids walking upright at Laetoli in Tanzania

1976 Hostages rescued at Entebbe
In a daring raid on Entebbe airport, Israeli troops rescue hostages hijacked on a flight from Tel Aviv to Paris

1977 Mengistu seizes control of Derg
Mengistu Haile Mariam seizes control of Ethiopia's ruling Dergue (military council) in a violent coup

1977 Independence for Djibouti
The French Territory of Afars and Issas becomes independent as Djibouti, with Hassan Gouled Aptidon as president

1978 Moi succeeds Kenyatta
Jomo Kenyatta dies in office as Kenya's president and is succeeded by his deputy, Daniel arap Moi

1979 Amin flees from Uganda
Idi Amin flees from Uganda as Tanzanian troops reach his capital, Kampala

1980 Obote back in power in Uganda
A coup in Uganda brings Milton Obote back into power, and he is confirmed as president in a subsequent general election

1983 Sharia in Sudan provokes civil war
Government imposition of Islamic law (sharia) triggers renewed civil war in Sudan between the Muslim north and Christian south

1984 Famine in northern Ethiopia
A disastrous famine in the northern provinces of Ethiopia is the first to be seen all round the world on television

1984 Nariokotome Boy discovered
The Turkana Boy, the most complete known skeleton of Homo erectus, is found near Lake Turkana by Kamoya Kimeu in Richard Leakey's team

1985 Obote overthrown again
Milton Obote, toppled in a bloodless Uganda coup, escapes to Zambia

1985 Nyerere stands down
Julius Nyerere, long-serving president of Tanzania, relinquishes power voluntarily

1986 Museveni wins power in Uganda
The guerrilla leader Yoweri Museveni takes Kampala and becomes president of Uganda

1986 Guerrilla group formed by Rwandan exiles
The Rwandan Patriotic Front is formed, by a group of exiles, to bring about the downfall of Habyarimana's regime in Rwanda

1990 RPF invades Rwanda
An army of the Rwandan Patriotic Front crosses the border from Uganda to invade Rwanda

1991 Dergue leader flees
As Ethiopian and Eritrean rebels approach Addis Ababa, the leader of the Dergue, Mengistu, flees the country

1991 Rebels take control in Ethiopia
The rebel Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), led by Meles Zenawi, takes control in Ethiopia

1991 Hutu youths trained to attack Tutsis
Hutu youth militias, known as the Interahamwe, are formed in Rwanda to spearhead attacks on Tutsis

1991 Civil war in Somalia
Civil war in Somalia topples the Marxist dictator Mohamed Siad Barre

1992 UN troops for Somalia
The UN sends troops to famine-stricken and war-torn Somalia

1993 Eritrea wins independence
The new federalist regime in Ethiopia cedes independence to Eritrea

1993 Habyarimana makes peace with RPF
President Habyarimana alienates Rwanda's Hutu Power extremists by coming to terms with the Rwandan Patriotic Front

1993 Hutu president of Burundi assassinated
Melchior Ndadaye, the first Hutu president of Burundi, is killed by Tutsis within months of his election

1993 Ethnic violence in Burundi
Civil war in Burundi, between Hutus and Tutsis, follows the murder of the first Hutu president

1994 Genocide preached in Rwanda
The Hutu government in Rwanda preaches genocide against Tutsis

1994 Western troops leave Somalia
US and European troops are withdrawn from the UN force in turbulent Somalia

1994 Rwandan president's plane shot down
The Rwandan president, Juvenal Habyarimana, dies when his plane is shot down

1994 Burundi president in Rwanda plane disaster
Cyprian Ntayamira, the second Hutu president of Burundi, dies in the crash of the president of Rwanda's plane

1994 Death of Rwandan president sparks genocide
The assassination of Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana sparks the outbreak of genocide

1994 Rwanda genocide
As many as 800,000 people die, most of them slashed to death with machetes, in three months of genocide in Rwanda

1994 Mogadishu divided
Mogadishu, the capital, is divided between two factions in Somalia's civil war

1994 RPF topples Rwanda regime
After the genocide in Rwanda, the Rwandan Patriotic Front captures Kigali and replaces the Hutu government

1994 Rwandan refugee crisis in Zaire
More than a million Hutus, escaping from the backlash after the genocide in Rwanda, are in refugee camps in Zaire

1995 Remaining UN troops leave Somalia
Asian and African UN troops withdraw from Somalia, though the country is still in a state of violent civil war

1995 Presidential election in Ethiopia
Ethiopians have their first experience of democracy in a free presidential election, won by Meles Zenawi

1996 Bin Laden moves to Afghanistan
Expelled from Sudan, Osama bin Laden moves to Afghanistan where he builds training camps for al-Qaeda

1998 War between Eritrea and Ethiopia
Bitter and devastating warfare breaks out again between Eritrea and Ethiopia as the result of a border dispute

1998 US embassies attacked in east Africa
224 deaths in simultaneous attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania are linked to al-Qaeda

1998 US retaliates against Al-Qaeda
US cruise missiles attack al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical factory in Khartoum

1998 Hope in Sudanese civil war
Steps are taken to end Sudan's fifteen-year civil war, with an undated government promise of a referendum in the south

1999 130,000 Hutus on genocide charges
Approximately 130,000 Hutus are held in gaol awaiting trial for their part in Rwanda's genocide

2003 Civil war in Darfur
Civil war breaks out in the Darfur region of the Sudan, resulting in large numbers of civilian deaths and accusations of government-sponsored genocide

2017 March 10 20 million people face famine
The UN warns that the world is facing the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II, with up to 20 million people at risk of starvation and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria

2018 March 19 Last white rhinoceros dies
The world's last male northern white rhinoceros dies in Kenya, making the subspecies functionally extinct