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6th millennium BC In the Neolithic probably the first settlers walking from Sicily to Malta and Gozo by sea.
3600-2400 BC chalcolithic period. Temples of megalithic culture.
2300-850 BC Bronze Age; car ruts.
850 BC Phoenician colonization. The maritime nation from the east Mediterranean uses the safe harbor (malet = anchor) as a trading base.
600 BC Carthage, an originally Phoenician colony take control over the Maltese Islands and the maritime shipping in the western Mediterranean.
218 BC In the 2nd Punic War between Rome and Carthage, Malta ("Melita") and Gozo ("Gaulus") be Part of the Roman Empire.
60 AD According to the report of the apostle Luke, the Saint Paul suffers shipwreck in Malta on the way to Rome (St.Paul 's Islands), he stays three months on the islands and converted the population to Christianity.
395 BC Roman Empire division. The Maltese islands and Sicily belong to the Western empire until the arrival of the Knights of St. John.
476 Collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Goths and Vandals are conquered the the islands at the 5th and 6th Century.
535 The Roman Emperor Justinian (527-565) are conquered Sicily and the Maltese islands for the Byzantine Empire by his commander Mr Belisar.
870 Arab conquest. Introduction of cotton, citrus, fig and artificial irrigation in the middle of the 10th century; takeover of the Arabic language and Islam.
1090/1127 Only after the second invasion of the Normans in Malta the power of the Arabs is broken. Association with Sicily under Norman kings. The Arabic language remains and the Islamic gives way to the Christianity.
1194 After the extinction of the Norman kings, the German Staufer take command.
1224 Emperor Friedrich II. evacuate the followers of Islam to Lucera in southern Italy.
1263 The Pope feoff the French Count of Anjou with Sicily and Malta, which displace the last Staufer.
1282 Sicilian Vespers: Sicily shakes off the foreign rule and subordinate to the rightful heirs to the throne of Peter Aragon.
1282-1530 Spanish lords are reign over Sicily and the Maltese archipelago.
1435 Malta is divided into 12 parishes (kapelle) each with a priest (kappilan).
1453 The Turkish Ottoman are conquered Constantinople and seal the end of the Byzantine Empire.
1470 Malta be part of the new Spanish Empire.
1524 Karl V. offers the Knights of St. John a domicile at the Maltese Islands which are displaced by the Ottomans from Rhodes.
1530 The Knights of St. John assume Malta and Gozo, the first establishment will be Birgu (Vittoriosa).
1551 Corsairs attacked Gozo and enslave almost the entire population
1565 “Great Siege” The Turkish fleet besieged in vain the new seat of the Knights of St. John for three months.
1566 Valletta is built (named after the Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Valette), the city from rice board. Malta will be expanded to a bulwark of Christianity against the Islamic empires. In the 17th century Valletta is the strongest fortress in Europe.
1574 The establishment of the "Sacra Infermeria". The hospital of the Knights of St. John obtained world fame for his best medical treatment.
1683 The Turks are repulsed at Vienna; a consolidation phase starts in Malta.
1789 French Revolution. By the expropriation of monastic lands, the money for the Maltese Knights be missing.
1798 Napoleon assume the Maltese archipelago without a struggle.
1800 Survey against the French. The Maltese call for help the English fleet under Admiral Nelson.
1813-1964 The Maltese Islands be a colony of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
19.Jh. Upturn as a trade port and the main naval base of the British Navy.
1869 Malta moves into the centre of the Mediterranean trade by the opening of the Suez Canal.
1870 Construction of the Victoria Lines.
1921 After the "Sette Giugno-"unrest in 1919, Britain granted Malta his own constitution and partial self-government because of price increases.
1934 Maltese is in addition to English official language.
1939-1943 During the Second World War, Malta will target of the heaviest air strikes in southern Europe. Thousands of houses are being destroyed, over a period of months is the island is cut off any supply and experienced a terrible famine. British king grant the George Cross to Malta for its heroic defence. Now it is embellish the national flag.
1964 Malta's independence within the British Commonwealth.
1974 Proclamation of the Republic.
1979 On 31 March the last British soldier leaves Malta.
1987 The National Party accepts the power of the Labour Party for the first time.
1998 After the re-election of the National Party, Malta is negotiated its accession to the EU again.
2004 1st May Malta is an official member of the European Union. Malta celebrates with a huge fireworks and laser show in Valletta. Malta is now the smallest country in the European Union.
2008 Malta adopts the euro as an official payment.
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