| 7th century BC |
According to tradition, area of modern Istanbul settled by Greeks from the Aegean coast, who name the colony “Byzantium” after their leader, Byzas |
| 330 AD |
Roman emperor Constantine moves capital to Byzantium, soon renamed “New Rome” |
| 537 |
Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) consecrated during reign of Justinian I |
| 1204 |
Constantinople sacked by Venetians and their allies in the Fourth Crusade, who wrest power from the Byzantines |
| 1261 |
Restoration of Byzantine control |
| 1453 |
Ottoman conquest of city under Mehmed II (the Conqueror) |
| 1520–1566 |
Reign of Süleyman the Magnificent: height of Ottoman power |
| 1839–1876 |
Tanzimat period: Ottomans begin range of modernizing reforms |
| 1853–1856 |
Crimean War |
| 1870 |
Great Pera fire |
| 1876–1909 |
Reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II |
| 1883 |
Inaugural journey of the Orient Express |
| 1892 |
Pera Palace Hotel established |
| 1908 |
Young Turk revolution |
| 1909 |
Exile of Abdülhamid II |
| 1909–1918 |
Reign of Sultan Mehmed V |
| Oct. 1914 |
Ottomans enter First World War on side of Central Powers |
| Dec. 1914–Jan. 1915 |
Battle of Sarikamish: Russian imperial forces inflict major defeat on Ottoman army in eastern Anatolia |
| Apr. 1915–Jan. 1916 |
Gallipoli campaign: Ottomans repel British, Australian, and New Zealand forces from peninsula southwest of Istanbul |
| Apr. 24–25, 1915 |
Armenian community leaders deported from Istanbul, with many later killed |
| 1918–1922 |
Reign of Sultan Mehmed VI |
| Oct. 1918 |
Mudros armistice ends hostilities between Ottomans and Allied powers |
| Nov. 1918 |
Armistice ends hostilities between Germany and Allied powers; Allied naval detachment sails into Bosphorus and takes up positions in Istanbul |
| May 1919 |
Hellenic troops occupy Smyrna (Izmir); Mustafa Kemal arrives in Black Sea port of Samsun; beginning of nationalist resistance to the Allies and the Turkish war of independence |
| Mar. 1920 |
Allies announce formal military occupation of Istanbul |
| Aug. 1920 |
Treaty of Sèvres |
| Nov. 1920 |
Flotilla of White Russian army and civilians arrives in Istanbul |
| Jan.–Sept. 1921 |
Battles of  nönü and Sakarya: turning points in favor of Turkish nationalists against Hellenic troops |
| Sept. 1922 |
Retreat of Hellenic army and flight of civilians from Smyrna |
| Nov. 1922 |
Sultanate abolished; flight of Mehmed VI |
| 1922–1924 |
Caliphate (but not sultanate) of Abdülmecid |
| Oct. 1922 |
Mudanya agreement paves way for transition to Turkish nationalist control |
| July 1923 |
Treaty of Lausanne |
| Oct. 1923 |
Last Allied troops leave Istanbul; Ankara named capital of Turkey; declaration of Turkey as a republic (Oct. 29), with Mustafa Kemal as president |
| 1924 |
Caliphate abolished |
| 1925 |
Fez banned; calendar reform; “Sheikh Said rebellion” among Kurds in eastern Anatolia; law on the maintenance of public order allows shutting down of newspapers and banning of opposition groups. |
| 1926 |
Adoption of new civil code and abolition of religious law; ban on public consumption of alcohol lifted |
| Oct. 1927 |
Mustafa Kemal’s lengthy “Nutuk” (Speech) sets out narrative of the war of independence and the victory of Turkish nationalists |
| 1928 |
Disestablishment of Islam as state religion; adoption of Latin alphabet for Turkish; unveiling of Republic Monument in Taksim Square |
| 1929 |
Leon Trotsky arrives in Istanbul |
| 1930 |
Women allowed to vote in municipal elections |
| 1931 |
Thomas Whittemore begins restoration of Hagia Sophia |
| 1932 |
Keriman Halis wins Miss Universe competition |
| 1933 |
Leon Trotsky departs Istanbul |
| 1934 |
Law requires Turkish citizens to adopt family names; women gain full suffrage; Mustafa Kemal becomes “Atatürk”; pogrom against Jews in eastern Thrace |
| 1937–1938 |
Military campaign against Kurds in eastern Anatolia |
| Nov. 10, 1938 |
Death of Atatürk; smet Inönü elevated to presidency |
| Sept. 1, 1939 |
Beginning of Second World War |
| Mar. 11, 1941 |
Suitcase bomb explodes at Pera Palace |
| June 22, 1941 |
German invasion of Soviet Union |
| Feb. 1942 |
Sinking of the Struma |
| Nov. 1942 |
Wealth tax aimed at Istanbul’s ethnic minorities |
| June 6, 1944 |
Allied landings in Normandy |
| Aug. 1944 |
Turkey breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany |
| Feb. 1945 |
Turkey declares war on Germany, becoming an Allied power |
| May 8, 1945 |
End of Second World War in Europe |
| 1950 |
First free and direct parliamentary elections in Turkey |
| Sept. 6–7, 1955 |
“September events”: mobs attack Greek and other minority homes and businesses in Istanbul |