Dates and most important events in Polish history from prehistoric times up to the present day, as taken from http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Timeline-of-Polish-history

c.960 :Mieszko I assumes rule in Poland

966 :Christianization of Mieszko I and Poland

968 :First bishopric in Poland - Poznan

972 :Mieszko's victorious battle of Cedynia over margrave Hodon

992 :Death of Mieszko I

992-1025 :Reign of Boleslaw I Chrobry (the Brave)

997 :Death of St.Adalbert of Prague during the christianization of Prussians

1000 :The Congress of Gniezno, with participation of the Emperor Otto III

1000 :Archbishopric founded in Gniezno with sufragan bishoprics in Kolobrzeg, Wroclaw, and Cracow

1025 :Coronation of Boleslaw I Chrobry as the King of Poland

1034-1058 :Reign of Casimir the Restorer

1034-1039 :People's rebellion and invasion of the Czech prince, Brzetyslav.

1076 :Coronation of Boleslaw the Bold for the king of Poland

1079-1102 :Reign of prince Ladislas

1102-1138 :Reign of prince Boleslav the Wrymouthed (Boleslav Krzywousty)

1106-1107 :War between Boleslav the Wrymouthed and his brother Zbigniew

1138 :Following Boleslaw's death, in accordance with his will, Poland is split into five main provinces, one for each of his sons, with the senior holding also the "royal" province between Great and Little Poland. Beginning of regional disintegration which continues until 1320.

1146-1173 :Boleslav the Curly is the senior prince in Cracow

1226 :Konrad of Mazovia asks Teutonic Knights, recently expelled from Hungary by Andrew II, to settle in Poland and gives them land in northern Mazovia, in addition to any territory they can wrest from the pagan Prussians and Lithuanians. The christianization of Prussia begins

1241 :The Mongol invasion cuts a wide swath of destruction through southern Poland; Cracow is besieged.

In July, the host of the Silesian princes is met and routed at Legnica, a defeat accompanied by the death of overlord Henryk Pobozny.

1295 :Coronation of Przemysl II for the king of Poland in Gniezno; shortly after, he is murdered in a bathhouse.

1300 :Coronation of Waclav II, king of Bohemia, as the king of Poland

1305 :Death of Waclav II, his son Waclav III becomes the king of Poland

1306 :Waclaw III is killed by an assassin while travelling to Cracow to inaugurate his reign in Poland

1306-1333 :Reign of Wladyslaw the Elbow High (Wladyslaw Lokietek)

1308-1309 :The Teutonic Knights drive out the Brandenburgians who captured Danzig (Gdansk), but hold the city for themselves. Wladyslaw the Elbow High , caught up with the situation in Little Poland, particularly the conspiracy led by Albert, the Cracow mayor, cannot intervene.

1320 :Coronation of Wladislaw the Elbow High and reunion of most of the Polish lands

1327-1332 :War against the Teutonic Order

1331 :Battle at Plowce

1343 :Peace treaty with the Teutonic Order in Kalisz

1370 :Death of Casimir the Great ends Piast Dynasty

1370-1382 :Reign of Louis I of Hungary

1385 :Personal union with Lithuania following marriage of Polish princess Jadwiga with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Wladyslaw Jagiello

1386-1434 :Reign of Wladyslaw Jagiello, beginning of Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland

1387 :Formal christianization of Lithuania

1409-1411 :War with Teutonic Knights

1410 July 15 :Victorious battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) with Teutonic Knights

1411 February :First peace treaty of Torun with Teutonic Order

1434-1444 :Reign of Wladislaw III

1444 :Battle at Varna against Turkey and death of Wladislaw III

1454 February :Prussian Confederation of cities and gentry revolts against rule of Teutonic Knights, and (March) accepts Polish sovereignty

1454-1466 :Thirteen Years' War of Poland and Prussian Confederation against Teutonic Knights

1466 October :Second Treaty of Thorn: the Teutonic Order cedes western (henceforth Royal) Prussia to Poland; eastern (later Ducal) Prussia remains under control of the Order, as a Polish fief.

1474 :First Polish printed text (in Cracow)

1492-1501 :Reign of Jan Olbracht

1569 :Administrative union of Lublin creates the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita)

1572 :Death of Sigismund II, the last king of the Jagiellonian Dynasty

1573 :Election of Henry of Valois as King of Poland

1575 :Stephen B thory becomes King of Poland

1582 : The peace treaty in Jam Zapolski ends the Livonian war.

1610 :Polish-Lithuanian forces occupy Moscow

1620 :War with Turkey

1655-1660 :Invasion of Poland by the Army of Charles X of Sweden in the Northern Wars, known in Poland as "the Deluge"

1683 September 12 :Polish king John III Sobieski defeats Turkish Army near Vienna

1768 :The Confederation of Bar

1772 :The First Partition of Poland: Austria receives Galicia, the Kingdom of Prussia gains West Prussia, and Russia gains Vitebsk, Mogilev and Gomel

1791 May 3 :Proclamation of the May Constitution

1793 :The Second Partition of Poland: Russia gains Podolia, eastern Volhynia and most of modern Belarus, while Prussia gains Greater Poland

1794 March :The national insurrection led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko

1795 :The Third Partition of Poland: Russia gains Curonia, Lithuania, western Belarus and western Volhynia, while Prussia receives the land to the north and west of Warsaw, and Austria the land to the south and east of the city.

1795 November 25 : The kingdom of Poland comes to an end with the abdication of Stanislaus II

1807 :The Grand Duchy of Warsaw is created under French tutelage from the territories annexed by Prussia in 1793 and 1795

1809 :The Grand Duchy gains the area annexed by Austria in 1795

1813 :Poland is occupied by Russian troops, bringing the Grand Duchy to an end

1815 :Most of the former Grand Duchy (excluding the Poznan and Torun districts) become the Kingdom of Poland under the rule of the Tsar of Russia.

1830 November 29 :The November Uprising against occupation of Poland

1832 February 26 :Russian-occupied Poland is stripped of its separate administration

1846 February 22 :Krakow Uprising: the city is annexed by Austria in November

1863 January 22 :The January Uprising against occupation of Poland: fighting continues into 1864

1914 August :Outbreak of World War I: Marshal Pilsudski's troops fight with German and Austrian troops against Russia

1916 November 5 :Germany and Austria-Hungary proclaim an independent kingdom of Poland, in practice under German control

1917 July :Pilsudski imprisoned at Madgeburg after supporting Polish soldiers who refused to swear brotherhood with their German and Austrian counterparts

1918 March 3 :Russia signs Treaty of Brest-Litovsk renouncing sovereignty over Poland. The rise of independent Second Polish Republic

1918 November 11 :Poland regains independence

1918-1919 :Uprising in Greater Poland region for liberation from German administration

1920 April 25-October 12 :Polish-Soviet War. Poland avoids Soviet conquest and gains a narrow victory

1921 March 17 :Proclamation of the March Constitution

1921 March 18 :Treaty of Riga

1926 May 12-14 :Coup d'etat by Jozef Pilsudski. He is behind the government that rules until 1939

1935 May 12 :Pilsudski dies: Marshal Rydz-Smigly becomes leader of regime

1939 September 1 :Germany invades Poland - the beginning of WWII September 17 :Soviet troops invade and then occupy eastern Poland

1940-41 :Soviet Union incarcerates 1.5 million Poles in labor camps and executes thousands of prisoners of war before ceding Polish lands to Germans

1941-44 :All Polish territory comes under Nazi occupation, taking savage toll of Polish lives. Poland becomes main killing ground of the Holocaust. Polish resistance movements active at home and abroad

1943 :Discovery of Katyn Massacre causes breach between Soviet Union and Polish government-in-exile

1944 August 1-October 2 :The Warsaw Uprising. The resistance Polish Home Army receives no Soviet assistance and is crushed by Nazis

1944 July 22 :Communist-dominated Polish National Liberation Committee is formed in Lublin on land liberated by Soviet and Polish troops

1944 December 31 :National Liberation Committee establishes provisional government

1945 :Red Army liberates Polish territories and establishes communist-dominated coalition government

1947 :Communists consolidate political monopoly after rigged elections

1947-49 :Sovietization occurs, including nationalization of industry and business, attacks on organized religion, and imprisonment of opposition leaders

1948-56 :Stalinist period brings most severe communist rule; adoption of Soviet-style constitution; attempted collectivization of agriculture

1948 December 20 :Communist (Workers) Party merges with left wing of Socialist Party as Polish United Workers Party (PZPR)

1956 :Worker riots in Poznan result in numerous deaths. In defiance of Soviet Union, Wladyslaw Gomulka chosen as Polish Communist Party leader. He announces commitment to reform and liberalization of system.

1956 October :Gomulka appointed leader of United Workers Party

1970 December :Protests lead to Gomulka's replacement by Edward Gierek

1980 August 31 :victory of Solidarity Trade Union strike led by Lech Walesa in Gdansk, a 21-point agreement with the Communist government signed

1981 December 13 :Communist authorities led by prime minister General Wojciech Jaruzelski proclaim martial law

1983 July :Lifting of the state of martial law in Poland

1989 June 4 :The first free postwar general elections (with some reservations) in Poland return a pro-Solidarity majority

1989 September 12 :The first non-communist-dominated government in Poland since the war

1990 December 9 :Walesa elected President of Poland

1992 :The last Soviet troops leave Poland

1997 April 2 :New Constitution adopted

1999 March 12 :Poland becomes a member of NATO

2004 May 1: Poland enters the European Union