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Timeline of Cypriot history
1st century:
45 - Paul of Tarsus, St Barnabas and St Mark introduced Christianity to Cyprus and converted the Roman governor Sergius Paulus.
2nd century:
115 - Kitos War: A messianic Jewish revolt began which resulted in the massacre of 240,000 Cypriots. Trajan intervened to restore the peace and expelled the Jews from Cyprus.
116 - Kitos War: The revolt ended.
4th century:
335 - The revolt of the usurper Calocaerus was omated by Flavius Dalmatius.
350 - Salamis was rebuilt by Constantius II, the son of Constantine, after being destroyed by earthquakes and was renamed Constantia.
395 - Cyprus became part of the Byzantine Empire.
7th century:
647 - The Arabs under Muawiya invaded and occupied Cyprus.
683 - The Arab garrison was withdrawn after its defeat at the hands of Constantine IV.
688 - Emperor Justinian II and Caliph al-Malik signed a treaty under whose terms no garrisons were to be stationed in the island, and all taxes collected were to be divided between the Arabs and the Emperor.
10th century:
965 - Cyprus was restored to Byzantine rule by Nicepheros Phokas
12th century:
1185 - Cyprus became an independent Empire under Isaak Comnenus.
1192 - Isaak Comnenus ended his reign.
Richard I of England captured Cyprus on his to Acre. The island was sold to the Templar Order, who in turn sold it to Guy of Lusignan.
Guy of Lusignan and his descendants began to rule Cyprus as an independent kingdom.
1193 - Altheides of Cyprus, the traveling philosopher, was born.
15th century:
1489 - The descendants of Guy of Lusignan ended their rule of Cyprus.
Cyprus became an overseas colony of the Venetian Republic after having been purchased from the last member of the Lusignan dynasty.
16th century:
1571 - Cyprus ended its time as a Venetian colony.
Having been put under siege the previous year, Famagusta was captured and Cyprus was subjected to Ottoman rule. The first Ottoman settlers arrived.
The Ottomans took Famagusta; Cyprus became a part of the Ottoman Empire. Greeks on the island of Cyprus sided with Venetians to fight off the attacking Ottomans.
17th century:
1625 - The plague, which would claim over half the lives of Cyprus, appeared.
1700 - The plague ran its course.
19th century:
1821 - Greek Cypriots sided with Greece in a revolt against Turkish rule. The island's leading churchmen were executed as punishment. 20,000 Christians fled the island.
1869 - The Suez Canal opened.
1878 - British occupation began. The British took over the administration of the island, by mutual agreement, in order to protect their sea route to India via the Suez Canal. In exchange, Britain agreed to help Turkey against future Russian attacks.
1880 - Sir Robert Biddulph became Crown commissioner.
1892 - Sir Walter Sendall became Crown commissioner.
1898 - Sir Walter Sendall ended his rule as Crown commissioner.
20th century:
1914 - Britain annexed Cyprus in response to Turkey's alliance with Germany and Austro-Hungary in World War I.
1925 - Cyprus became a British Crown Colony. Sir Richmond Palmer was made governor.
1931 - Greek Cypriots demanding Enosis, the union with Greece, instigated their first serious riots. The government-house in Nicosia was burned down; martial law was declared afterwards and the legislative council was abolished. The Greek National Anthem and the display of the Greek flag were banned. The British invented the terms "Greek Cypriot" and "Turkish Cypriot" and used the latter against the "Greek Cypriots" so as to cease Enosis demands.
1939 - Greek Cypriots fought with the British in World War II, demanding Enosis at war's end. The Turkish Cypriots wanted British rule to continue.
1946 - The British Government began to imprison thousands of displaced Jews in camps on Cyprus.
1949 - The British Government finished imprisoning displaced Jews.
1950 - Archbishop Makarios III was elected the political and spiritual leader of Cyprus, the head of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church and leader of the campaign for Enosis with the support of Greece.
1955 - A series of bomb attacks marked the start of a violent campaign for Enosis by the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA) under George Grivas, an Cypriot ex-colonel in the Greek army. Grivas took the name Dighenis and conducted guerrilla warfare from a secret hideout in the Troodos Mountains. He is estimated to have had 300 men at maximum, yet successfully plagued 20,000 British troops and 4,500 police.
1956 - Britain deported Makarios to the Seychelles in an attempt to quell the revolt. Turkish Cypriots were used as auxiliaries of British Security Forces. Some Turkish Cypriots became informants for the British Colonists and became among the major targets of the EOKA.
1957 - Field Marshal Sir John Harding was replaced by the civilian governor Sir Hugh Foot in a conciliatory move.
1958 - Turkish Cypriots, alarmed by British conciliation, began demands for partition. There were inter-communal clashes and attacks on the British.
1960 - British occupation ended.
The British, Greek and Turkish governments signed a Treaty of Guarantee to provide for an independent Cypriot state within the Commonwealth of Nations and allow for the retention of two Sovereign Base Areas at Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Under the treaty, each power received the right to take military action in the face of any threat to the constitution. Cyprus became independent of foreign rule. The Greek Cypriot Archbishop Makarios became the first president, with Turkish Cypriot Dr. Kutchuk his vice president. Both had the right of veto. Turkish Cypriots, who formed 18% of the population, were guaranteed the vice-presidency, three out of ten ministerial posts and 30% of jobs in the public service. They were further guaranteed 40% representation in the army and separate municipal services in the five major towns. Overall, a very complex constitution was drafted, which demanded a majority of votes overall as well as within each community for many decisions.
1963 - Greek Cypriots began to view the constitution as unworkable and proposed changes abolishing all veto rights and many ethnic clauses; these proposals were rejected by Turkish Cypriots and the Turkish government. Inter-communal fighting erupted. Tylliria was bombarded with napalm bombs. A UN Peace Keeping Force was sent in, but soon proved powerless to prevent incidents. Thousands of Turkish Cypriots retreated into enclaves where they were embargoed by the Greek Cypriots. The UN attempted to supply them with food and medicine.
1973 - The Turks emerged from their enclaves.
1974 - 15 Julay: The Greek military, with the support of the CIA and American national security advisor Henry Kissinger, ordered a coup to overthrow Makarios who they perceived to be too pro-Russian. Makarios was forced to flee to the British base. A puppet regime was imposed under Nikos Sampson, a former EOKA fighter and paid CIA operative.
20 Julay: Turkey invaded Cyprus and captured three percent of the island's territory around the town of Kyrenia, where they drove out the Greek Cypriot population.
23 Julay: The coup was put down and democracy and Makarios were restored.
14 August: After the breakdown of UN-led talks, the United Nations landed 40,000 troops on the north coast. 200,000 Greek Cypriots fled to the South, forcing resident Turkish Cypriots to leave their homes. Turkish forces were left in control of thirty-seven percent of the island. Facing threats from Turkey, the United Nations and the Cypriot government agreed to transfer the Turkish Cypriots living in the free areas to the occupied north against their will.
1975 - Turks announced a Federate State in the north, with Rauf Denktas, as leader. UN Forces remained as buffer between the two zones.
1977 - Makarios died. He was succeeded by Spyros Kyprianou.
1983 - The Turkish Federated State declared itself the independent Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), with Denktas, as President. The new state was not recognised by any country except Turkey and was officially boycotted.
1992 - UN sponsored talks began between the two sides.
1995 - The UN talks ran into the sand, but with a commitment to resume.
21st century:
2001 - The European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of continuing human rights violations against the Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
2003 - Cyprus was set to join the European Union in May 2004. Renewed negotiations about the status of the island took place.
The line which divided the two parts of Cyprus was partly opened. Thousands of Turkish and Greek Cypriots crossed the buffer zone to the "other side" after 30 years.
2004 - 2004 Annan Plan Referendum: The Annan Plan was rejected by the majority of Greek Cypriots.
The sovereign Republic of Cyprus joined the EU but the EU acquis was suspended in the occupied north.