| Date | EVENTS IN THE ETHIOPIAN / ERITREAN REGION |
| 3.2 million years ago | The era of Lucy or Dinknesh (Berkenesh), one of our earliest hominid ancestors. |
| 2.6 million years ago | Creation of what is now the second oldest stone tools in the world. |
| circa 3500 BCE | Egyptian- Ethiopian diplomatic and commercial contact; trade in myrrh, frankincense and tef. |
| circa 974 | Alleged relationship between the Jewish King Solomon and Queen Makeda of Ethiopia; Birth of Menelik. |
| 1000 BCE – circa 1000 BCE | Rise and Fall of the proto-Aksumite and Aksumite Empire. |
| 330CE | Official adoption of Christianity by the Aksumite Empire. |
| 615CE | Hospitable hosting of over 100 Muslim refugees, including the son- in- law of Prophet Muhammad and close aides, by the Ethiopian Emperor Armah. The Emperor resisted pressure to hand them over, and endeared himself to the early Muslims. |
| circa 1137 – 1270 | Rise of the Zagwe Dynasty and Emperor Lalibela’s massive engineering projects- including the building of churches and palaces. |
| 13th century | Restoration of the Solomonic dynasty and writing of the Kebra Nagast. |
| 1508- 40 | Emperor Lebna Dengel- Note his dismissal of the Portuguese. |
| 1527 – 35 | Jihad by Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi (Ahmad Gragn) of Adal. |
| 16th century | Ottoman Seizure of Massawa; Oromo migrations from south to north. |
| 17th& 18th centuries | Founding of Gondar; The era of Empress Mentewwab and extensive engineering projects, including palaces and baths. |
| 17th & 18th centuries | Era of Fasiladas, Iyasu 1, Bakaffa and Iyasu 11. |
| 1855- 1868 | Coronation of Emperor Tewodros |
| 1871-89 | Coronation of Emperor Yohannes IV |
| 1889-1913 | Coronation of Emperor Menelik 11. Note Ethiopia’s victory at The Battle of Adowa (Adwa). |
| 1896 | The Battle of Adowa |
| 1916 -30 | The daughter of Emperor Menelik 11, Empress Zawditu, shares the throne with Ras Tafari, son of Ras Makonnen. |
| 1930 | Coronation of Ras Tafari, as Emperor Haile Sellassie 1 – who initiated an era of extensive reforms. A road building program and a railway network were to link the provinces; construction of numerous schools in Addis Ababa; various experts hired from as many as 5 countries, and, large scale recruitment of young Ethiopian officials. He insisted on the jurisdiction of Ethiopian courts over foreigners. A new constitution was made. The Italians claimed that the Ethiopians had encroached on land claimed by them in the Ethiopian frontiers, in the Somali region: The Welwel incident. The emperor refused to give in despite British and French solidarity with Italy which they wanted to appease at that point in time. |
| 1935-44 | Italian Occupation and Ethiopian Resistance under Emperor Haile Selassie followed. Did World War 2 begin in 1935 with the attack on Ethiopia by Mussolini, who would use poison gas against the Ethiopians? Selassie’s flight to Britain in 1936 did not stop the resistance. At least ten thousand Ethiopians were executed and burnt alive by the Italians.The British decided to assist Ethiopia only after Mussolini declared war on the Allies because of their perception of the strategic advantage of the Red Sea region in the war offensive. The Addis Abeba Agreement of 1942 was signed. Ethiopian sovereignty was largely acknowledged but it was in 1944, with U.S assistance, that a more favorable treaty was signed. Eritrea was then governed by a British administration. |
| 1974 – 1990 | Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed in 1974 and the Marxist Revolutionary era inaugurated – under the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces (The DERG) and eventually Haile Mariam Mengistu. Numerous human rights violations took place. According to Harold Marcus, the 1967 Arab -Israeli war, a hike in oil prices, the costly war against the Eritrean insurgency, and, more directly, the 1973 famine in northern Shewa, Welo and Tigray, affected the economy negatively. The coup makers capitalized on the growing discontent and resentment against the Selassie regime. The regime was accused of inaction during the devastating famine. |
| 1991 | Victory of the EPRDF under the leadership of Meles Zanawi – who promised a transition from socialistic programs to democracy and a mixed economy. |
| 2007 | Ethiopian-Somali conflict, and U.S. support for the Ethiopians- against an alleged al-Qaida presence in the Somali region. |
| Gloria Emeagwali(2008) |