| 500 BC | Hanno of Carthage, sails to bay where Freetown is now located. |
| 800 AD | Limba tribe settles along coast (The Gola, Krim, and Sherbro tribes came a few years later.). |
| 1450 AD | Portuguese sailors trading West African slaves. |
| 1460 AD | Pedro DaCintra, a Portuguese explorer rediscovers Sierra Leone. |
| 16th century AD | Mende and Temne tribes settle in Sierra Leone. Mende in the south, Temne in the north. |
| 1605 AD | A Christian missionary comes to Sierra Leone. |
| 1725 AD | A holy war starts between Muslims and other early religious groups. |
| 1787 AD | British bring freed slaves to form Freetown. Temne beat Freetown in a war the same year it was established. The Islamics won the holy war the same year. |
| 1792 AD | 2nd British attempt to start a settlement. 1000 people came. |
| 1800 AD | 550 more freed slaves arrived in Freetown from the Caribbean. |
| 1808 AD | British proclaims Freetown a crowned colony. |
| 1834 AD | The population of Sierra Leone increases to 32,000. |
| 1924 AD | Britain allows chiefs to run for the country's national council. |
| 1943 AD | Africans get to be in the executive council of the government. |
| 1951 AD | Britain starts to draft the Sierra Leone constitution. |
| 1961 AD | Sierra Leone becomes an independent country, and elects Sir Milton Margai first prime minister. Under his leadership, Sierra Leone does well. |
| 1964 AD | Sir Milton dies. His brother Sir Albert becomes Prime minister in place of Sir Milton. |
| 1967 AD | Sir Albert is accused of corruption, and is forced to resign. Siaka Stevens is elected to prime ministry, however a few minutes after he was sworn in, an army coup took him out of office. |
| 1968 AD | A second army coup reinstates Stevens to office. A 3rd military coup failed to demote him, and 2 attempts to assassinate him also failed. |
| 1971 AD | Stevens declares Sierra Leone a republic, with him as president. |
| 1973 AD | Stevens runs for reelection, and using the police, forces his people to vote for him. |
| 1985 AD | Stevens resigns, after choosing the head of the army Joseph Momoh as his successor. However corruption continues, and the economy started to deteriorate. |
| 1991 AD | A civil war over diamonds begins. (So far, the war has been going on for about 9 years.) |
| Later 1991 AD | The Constitution of Sierra Leone is finished. |
| 1992 AD | Captain Valentine Strasser, demotes president Joseph Momoh in a military coup months after the country voted to create a multi-party government system. |
| 1996 AD | Due to international pressure, Strasser allows the first multi-party government elections since '67 - which led to a victory for Ahmed Kabbah's Sierra Leone People's party. |
| May 1997 AD | Major General Johnny Koroma demotes president Kabbah in a military coup, suspends the constitution, bans demonstrations, and abolishes political parties. Kabbah flees to Guniea to gain international support. |
| July 1997 AD | The Commonwealth suspends Sierra Leone. |
| October 1997 AD | The UN security council bars the supply of arms and other petrolium products. A British company, Sandline, still supplies arms to Kabbah allies. |
| February 1998 AD | The Nigerian lead West African intervention force, Ecomog, storms Freetown. |
| March 1998 AD | President Kabbah makes a triumphant return to Freetown. |
| January 1999 AD | Rebels under Foday Sankoh seize parts of Freetown from Ecomog. After weeks of fighting, they are driven out, leaving Freetown a wrecked city. |
| February 1999 AD | An inquiry into the supply of weapons to Kabbah supporters by Sandline is highly critical of civil servants and ministers. |
| May 1999 AD | A ceasefire agreement is greeted with caution is Freetown. In hospitals and amputee camps, victims of atrocities hope that the civil war may soon end. |
| July 1999 AD | Six weeks of talks result in a peace accord, which gives the rebel leaders a post in government, and a pardon of all crimes commited in war. |
| Nov/Dec 1999 AD | UN troops arrive as peace keepers, but rebels say they are not welcome. During this time, Ecomog troops are attacked outside freetown. |
| January 2000 AD | UN forces have problems deploying troops to the north of Sierra Leone, and Foday Sankoh days the UN doesn't belong in Sierra Leone. |
| February 2000 AD | Despite the peace keepers, rebel atrocities continue with abduction, rape and house burning happening almost every day. |
| April/May 2000 AD | UN forces are attacked in the east of Sierra Leone, but far worse is in store when 300 UM troops are abducted. |
| April/May 2000 AD | British forces are told to retreat, a command that causes much worry in Sierra Leone. |
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Books on Sierra Leone: The Land and People of Sierra Leone by Mary Louis Clifford A Short History on Sierra Leone by Christopher Fyfe Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone by Henry Gilfond Web sites:
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