| 1839 |
|
British force Chinese to expand trade in Opium Wars |
| 1841 |
|
China cedes Hong Kong to Britain |
| 1883 |
|
Eruption of Krakatoa Volcano, Indonesia (35,000 killed) |
| 1894 |
|
Japan invades China - annexes Formosa and Korea |
| 1896 |
|
Siam guarenteed independence from China by Britain and France |
| 1900 |
|
Boxer Rising in China attempts to expel all foreigners |
| 1911 |
|
Chinese Revolution - Sun Yat-Sen establishes Republic |
| 1921 |
|
Chinese Communist Party founded |
| 1928 |
|
Kuomintang under Chang Kai-Shek subdues Chinese warlords |
| 1930 |
|
Civil War in China between Nationalists and Communists |
| 1931 |
|
Floods in Central China kill up to 4 million |
| 1931 |
|
Japanese invade Manchuria |
| 1934 |
|
Long March by Chinese communists under Mao Tse-Tung |
| 1937 |
|
Japanese advance into Northern China and Mongolia |
| 1949 |
|
People's Republic of China proclaimed by Mao Tse-Tung |
| 1952 |
|
Huge collectivization push in rural China |
| 1958 |
|
Dalai Lama flees Tibet from Chinese persecution |
| 1961 |
|
Famine caused by the Great Leap Forward kills an estimated 36 million |
| 1962 |
|
Sino-Indian Border Conflict between China and India |
| 1966 |
|
Cultural Revolution begins in China |
| 1969 |
|
Border disputes between China and Russia |
| 1976 |
|
Mao Tse-Tung dies - Gang of Four arrested |
| 1980 |
|
Deng Xiao-Ping becomes Chairman of China |
| 1989 |
|
Pro-democracy protest in Tianenmen Square, Beijing, brutally crushed |
| 1994 |
|
Construction starts on China's Three Gorges Dam |
| 1997 |
|
Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule |
| 1999 |
|
China launches first spacecraft |
