SCOTLAND

6000 BC

First sign of human settlement on the West coast and islands

1000 BC

First invasion of Celtic tribes

82 AD

Agricola's forces enter Scotland and reach Aberdeenshire

142 AD

The second ROman invasion reaches Firth of Forth

185

Withdrawl of Roman forces behind Hadrian's Wall

397

Fist Christian Church founded at Whithorn by St Ninian

563

St Columba lands on Iona and founds a monastery

843

Kenneth MacAlpin becomes the first king of Scots

973

Kenneth II defeats the Danish Luncarty near Perth

1018

Malcolm II defeats the North-umbrians at the Battle of Carham

1040

MacBeth becomes king by murdering Duncan I

1124 - 53

Reign of David I. Royal burghs are founded and Border abbeys are established

1249

Alexander III becomes king. Start of the Golden Age

1286

Death of Alexander III, who is suceeded by his infant grand-daughter Margaret. Rival claimants to the throne include John Balliol and Robert Bruce

1290

Magaret dies en route to Scotland. Edward I of England declares himself feudal overlord of Scotland

1291 - 96

Edward I invades Scotland and wins the battle of Dunbar

1297

Rebellion led by William Wallace defeats the English forces at Stirling Bridge. Wallace is executed as a traitor by the English in 1305

1306

Robert the Bruce becomes King Robert I and is crowned at Scone. After a defeat he spends a year in excile.

1314

Scots forces under Robert the Bruce defeat the English at the Battle of Bannockburn

1333

The English defeat the Scots at Halidon Hill

1371

Robert II, first of the Stuarts, becomes king

1406 - 1542

Reign of James I - V

1542

James V dies after the Battle of Solway Moss. His baby daughter, Mary Queen of Scots, succeeds

1547

Hertford wins the Battle of Pinkie. Mary is taken to France

1561

Mary returns to Scotland to reclaim the throne

1566

Birth of James VI

1587

Execution of Mary Queen of Scots

1603

Death fo Elizabeth I. James VI becomes James I of England

1650

Cromwell seizes power in England. The Scots proclaim Charles II as king in defiance, but lose to Cromwell at Dunbar

1660

Charles II restored as king

1689

James VII deposed by William and MAry, The Scots supporters of James and the Jacobites win the Battle of Killiecrankie

1692

By the order of William, members of the Campbell Clan massacre members of the MacDonald clan at Glencoe

1707

Treaty of Union and abolition of the seperate Scottish parliament

1715

A rebellion led by the Earl of Mar fails after the Battle at Sheriffmuir

1745

Bonnie Prince Charlie's success at Prestonpans puts much of Scotland in Jacobite hands

1746

Jacobite army defeated by the Duke of Cumberland at Culloden, the last battle fought on mainland Britain's soil

1780

Eviction of people during the HIghland clearance to make room for sheep. The beginning of the "Age of Enlightment" in literature and arts

1823

Opening of the Caledonian Canal

1836

Highland potato crop fails

1852

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert buy Balmoral. Fast industrial expansion from the 1850s onwards

1882

The "Crofters War" andsubsequent passing of the the Crofters Holdings Act in 1884, securing crofters fair rents, security of tenure and thr right to pass crofts on to their families

1924

Ramsay MacDonald becomes Scotland's first labour prime minister

1934

Formation of the Scottish National Party (SNP)

1975

Beginning of the North Sea gas and oil exploitation

1997

Referendum votes in favour of a 129 member Scottish parliament

1999

Election of a Scottish parliament

2004

Opening of the new Scottish Parliament building. Edinburgh is named as the world's first City of Literature

2014

A referendum rejects Scottish independence from the United Kingdom