• ca. 4000 B.C. Modern excavations in and around Üsküdar, Kadiköy, Sirkeci, and Yenikapi provide evidence of prehistoric settlements.
  • ca. 1200-700 B.C. Migration of Greeks to Aegean coastal regions.
  • ca. 660 B.C. Earliest documented settlement in Istanbul is founded by Greek settlers from Megara.
  • ca. 499 B.C. Persians, led by Darius, sack the city and drive out the Greeks.
  • 334 B.C. Alexander the Great drives out the Persians.
  • 146 B.C. The city comes under Roman rule.
  • A.D. 197-211 Septimus Severus consolidates power; punishes the city by razing it to the ground.
  • A.D. 284 Diocletian reforms Roman administrative system.
  • A.D. 313 Edict of Milan establishes official tolerance of Christianity.
  • A.D. 330 Constantine establishes his capital of New Rome and then renames it Constantinople.
  • A.D. 360 Constantine builds the first Ayasofya.
  • A.D. 476 Fall of the Roman Empire; Constantinople emerges as capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.
  • A.D. 527 Justinian and his Queen Theodora ascend the throne.
  • A.D. 537 The foundations of the Ayasofya are laid.
  • A.D. 553 Earthquake damages dome of Ayasofya.
  • A.D. 675 Eyüp Sultan leads Arab siege of the city.
  • A.D. 726 Leo III rejects the idea of icons.
  • 1054 Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches split.
  • 1071 Selçuks defeat Byzantine army at Malazgirt.
  • 1204 The city is sacked in the 4th Crusade; Byzantine court establishes capital at Nicaea (Iznik, near Bursa).
  • 1261 Michael VIII Palaeologus reclaims Constantinople.
  • 1453 Mehmet the Conqueror takes Constantinople.
  • 1492 Columbus discovers the New World.
  • 1517 Ottomans conquer Egypt, and Istanbul becomes the center of Islam.
  • 1826 Janissary massacred and corps abolished
  • 1854 Britain and France support Ottomans against Russia in the Crimean War.
  • 1856 Treaty of Paris; Ottoman Empire accepted as a European state.
  • 1878 The "Sick Man of Europe" progressively deteriorates; Britain occupies Cyprus.
  • 1881 Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) born in Salonika.
  • 1908 Coup d'état led by Young Turks; Abdülhamid is deposed.
  • 1914 Ottoman Empire enters World War I as ally of Germany.
  • 1915 Turkish forces successfully repel Anzac forces at Battle of Gallipoli.
  • 1918 Turks surrender; Allied forces enter Istanbul.
  • 1919 Occupational Greek army lands at Smyrna; Atatürk leads national resistance.
  • 1920 Grand National Assembly created in Ankara with Mustafa Kemal as president.
  • 1922 Greeks driven from Anatolia; sultanate abolished.
  • 1923 Treaty of Lausanne; the modern Republic of Turkey is formed with Atatürk as president; Ankara replaces Istanbul as capital.
  • 1924 Caliphate abolished and all members of the Ottoman dynasty are sent into exile.
  • 1938 Atatürk dies; Ismet Inönü becomes republic's second president.
  • 1945 Turkey declares war on Germany.
  • 1946 Turkey becomes charter member of United Nations.
  • 1952 Turkey joins NATO.
  • 1960 Military coup.
  • 1961 Army restores parliamentary government.
  • 1964 Turkey granted associate member status in European Union.
  • 1974 Turkey sends troops to northern Cyprus.
  • 1980 Military coup d'état
  • 1999 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan jailed for treason and sentenced to death. Two major earthquakes rock the province of Istanbul in August and November, killing an estimated 20,000 people.
  • 2002-03 Justice and Development Party (AKP) wins landslide victory.
  • 2003 Terrorist bombing at Istanbul synagogue, the British Embassy, and HSBC Bank.
  • 2005 E.U. accession talks officially begin and are projected to last at least a decade.
  • 2009 Turkey and Armenia establish diplomatic relations.
  • 2010 Istanbul reigns (along with Pécs, Hungary, and Essen, Germany) as European Cultural Capital.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.