Pre-history

• 400,000 BC - People belonging to the species Homo Erectus set foot on the Philippines
• 50,000 BC - Early humans made stone tools in the Tabon Cave in Palawan
• 40,000 BC -Negritos start to settle
• 20,000 BC - Tabon Man made stone tools in the Tabon Cave
• 4500-300 BC -Multiple Austronesian migrations from Taiwan
• c.3000 BC - Presumed date of the Angono Petroglyphs
• 900 AD - People from Southern Annam called Orang Dampuan establish trade zones in Sulu
• 900 AD - Established settlements are already present in and around Manila as seen from the Laguna Copperplate Inscription
• 1240 AD - Tuan Mash`ika ,a Muslim travels and introduces Islam to Sulu
• 1300s AD - Birth of the Baybayin, Hanunoo, Tagbanwa, and Buhid scripts
• 1380 AD - Karim ul-Makhdum arrives at Sulu and builds a Mosque

16th century

• 1521 - Ferdinand Magellan lands in the Philippines, claiming the islands for Spain
• 1543 - Ruy López de Villalobos names the islands Las Islas Filipinas
• 1565 - Miguel López de Legazpi establishes the first permanent Spanish settlement in the country
• 1570 - Manila is conquered and made a Spanish city
• 1590 - Missionaries from the Society of Jesus establish the Colegio de Manila in Intramuros.

17th century

• c.1600 - Pedro Bucaneg inscribes the oral epic Biag ni Lam-ang
• Señora del Santísimo Rosario (later renamed the Colegio de Santo Tomas).
• 1621 - The Colegio de Manila is made the Universidad de San Ignacio by Pope Gregory XV.
• 1623 - The Universidad de San Ignacio is made a royal university by Philip IV of Spain.
• 1647 - Dutch besieged the Spanish in the Battle of Puerto de Cavite

18th century

• 1762 - British East India Company seizes Manila
• 1763 - Treaty of Paris returns Manila to Spain
• 1763 - Deaths of Gabriela Silang, the only Filipina to have led a revolt, and her husband Diego
• 1768 - Following the Suppression of the Jesuits, the members of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines are expelled. They surrender their properties to Spanish civil authorities

19th century

• 1821 - The Philippines becomes a province of Spain.
• 1837 - Manila is made an open port.
• 1872 - 200 Filipino soldiers stage a mutiny in Cavite.
• 1872 - Priests Mariano Gomez, José Apolonio Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora (together known as Gomburza) are implicated in the Cavite Mutiny and executed.
• 1892-Jose Rizal establishes La Liga Filipina;Jose Rizal was exiled in Dapitan.
• 1892 - Andres Bonifacio establishes the Katipunan.
• 1896 - José Rizal is executed.
• 1898 - Emilio Aguinaldo declares independence
• 1898 - Treaty of Paris transfers control of the Philippines from Spain to the United States ending the existence of the Spanish East Indies.
• 1898 - Philippine-American War Conflict erupts between Filipino Nationalists and American Forces.

20th century

• 1902 - Americans proclaim the end of the Philippine-American War, however fighting continues.
• 1907 - The First Philippine Assembly is convened.
• 1913 - Conflict in the country subsides.
• 1916 - The Jones Law is passed establishing an all-Filipino legislature
• 1916 - The Philippine Assembly becomes the House of Representatives and a Senate is established
• 1918 - The Philippines joins the First World War, sending 25,000 Filipino troops (and additional 6,000 in the U.S. Navy) to Europe fighting for the United States
• 1934 - The Philippine Independence Act is approved
• 1935 - Commonwealth of the Philippines is established
• 1935 - Manuel L. Quezon is elected president
• 1941 - President Quezon re-elected
• 1941 - Japan invades and occupies the Philippines in World War II
• 1943 - Jose P. Laurel appointed president by Japanese Imperial Army
• 1944 - United States retakes the Philippines from Japan
• 1945 -The Philippines along with 49 Allied countries signs the United Nations charter.
• 1946 - Manuel Roxas elected president
• 1946 - United States grants independence to the Philippines
• 1948 - President Roxas dies; Elpidio Quirino becomes president
• 1949 - Elpidio Quirino re-elected as president
• 1950 - The Philippines joins the Korean War, sending over 7,000 troops under the United Nations command.
• 1953 - Ramon Magsaysay elected president
• 1954 - Manila Pact, also known as the South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), forms alliance of Philippines, the United States, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and France.
• 1957 - Ramon Magsaysay dies in a plane crash; Carlos P. Garcia becomes president
• 1961 - Diosdado Macapagal elected president
• 1961 - Independence Day is changed to June 12 by Diosdado Macapagal
• 1965 - Ferdinand E. Marcos elected president
• 1969 - Ferdinand E. Marcos is re-elected to a second term, the first to ever do so
• 1970 - First Quarter Storm begins in January
• 1972 - President Marcos delares martial law
• 1978 - First formal elections since 1969 for the Interim Batasang Pambansa (National Assembly)
• 1978 - Ferdinand E. Marcos becomes interim Prime Minister
• 1981 - Martial law lifted
• 1981 - Philippine general election and referendum, 1981 (Ferdinand Marcos re-elected)
• 1981 - Finance Minister Cesar Virata is elected Prime Minister by the Batasang Pambansa
• 1983 - Benigno Aquino, Jr. assassinated
• 1984 - Philippine parliamentary election, 1984
• 1986 - Philippine presidential election, 1986
• 1986 - EDSA Revolution ousts President Marcos; Corazon Aquino becomes president
• 1987 - Philippine legislative election, 1987
• 1991 - Senate rejects renewal of U.S military bases in the Philippines
• 1992 - Philippine general election, 1992 (Fidel V. Ramos is elected)
• 1995 - Philippine general election, 1995
• 1997 - Asian financial crisis
• 1998 - Philippine general election, 1998 (Joseph Estrada is elected)

21st century

• 2000 - President Estrada impeached by House of Representatives
• 2001 - EDSA II Revolution ousts Joseph Estrada; Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo becomes president
• 2001 - EDSA III
• 2001 - Philippine general election, 2001
• 2003 - Oakwood mutiny
• 2004 - Philippine general election, 2004 (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo elected to a six-year term)
• 2005 - Hello Garci scandal (Legitimacy of declared election winners questioned)
• 2006 - A state of emergency was declared in February in response to coup rumours.
• 2007 - Philippine general election, 2007
• 2007 - Manila Peninsula mutiny

Early History