1920 Sir Percy Cox lands in Basra to assume his responsibilities as high commissioner in Iraq.
1921 The British install the son of Sharif Hussein bin Ali (leader of the Arab Revolt of 1916 against the Ottoman Empire) as King Faisal I of Iraq.
1932 Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom.
1939 Faisal II becomes King of Iraq.
1948 Following the demise of the British Mandate of Palestine, Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade the territory partitioned for the Arab state by the British Mandate of Palestine thus starting the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
1958 Nuri as-Said becomes the prime minister of Iraq for the 14th time.
1958 Iraqi Revolution: in Iraq the monarchy is overthrown by popular forces lead by Abdul Karim Kassem, who becomes the nation's new leader.
1968 A revolution occurs in Iraq when Abdul Rahman Arif is overthrown and the Ba'ath Party is installed as the governing power in Iraq with Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr as the new Iraqi President.
1975 Algiers Accord: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement of their border dispute.
1977 Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen. The move is in retaliation for the Declaration of Tripoli against Egypt.
1980 The Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein kills philosopher Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr and his sister Bint al-Huda after three days of torture.
1980 Iraq invades Iran.
1981 The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osiraq nuclear reactor during Operation Opera. The facility could have been used to make nuclear weapons.
1982 Assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Dujail.
1987 An Iraqi fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. warship {{USS|Stark|FFG-31|6}}, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
1988 Halabja poison gas attack: The Kurdish town of Halabjah in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents, killing 5000 people and injuring about 10000 people.
1990 Iraq hangs British journalist Farzad Bazoft for spying.
1990 Customs officers in Middlesbrough, United Kingdom, say they have seized what they believe to be the barrel of a massive gun on a ship bound for Iraq.
1990 Iraqi forces start massing on the Kuwait-Iraq border.
1990 Iraqi forces start massing on the Kuwait-Iraq border.
1990 Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.
1990 Gulf War: the United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
1990 Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward.
1990 Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests" (actually hostages) to try to prevent the Gulf War.
1990 Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province.
1990 Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council passes United Nations Security Council Resolution 678, authorizing "use all necessary means to uphold and implement" United Nations Security Council Resolution 660 "to restore international peace and security" if Iraq did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by January 15, 1991.
1991 Gulf War: An act of the U.S. Congress authorizes the use of military force to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.
1991 The United Nations deadline for the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait expires, preparing the way for the start of Operation Desert Storm.
1991 The United States goes to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War (U.S. Time).
1991 Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.
1991 Gulf War: SCUD attack from Iraq causes 15 injuries in Israel.
1991 Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.
1991 Gulf War: An Iraqi scud missile hits an American military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia killing 28 U.S. Army Reservists from Pennsylvania.
1991 Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
1991 Gulf War: On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
1991 Sheikh Saad Al-Abdallah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, the Prime Minister of Kuwait, returns to his country for the first time since Iraq's invasion.
1994 In a U.S. friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two United States Air Force aircraft mistakenly shoot-down two United States Army helicopters, killing 26 people.
1998 Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.
1998 Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones.
2002 In his State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush describes "regimes that sponsor terror" as an ''Axis of Evil'', in which he includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
2002 A group of Iraqis opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein take over the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin for five hours before releasing their hostages and surrendering.
2002 Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq agrees to the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 1441.
2002 Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
2003 France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
2003 2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.
2003 In Nasiriyah, Iraq, 11 soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company as well as 18 U.S. Marines are killed during the first major conflict of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 654 Iraqi combatants are also killed.
2003 The Arab League votes 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.
2003 2003 invasion of Iraq: Baghdad falls to American forces;Saddam Hussein statue topples as Iraqis turn on symbols of their former leader, pulling down the statue and tearing it to pieces.
2003 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the {{USS|Abraham Lincoln|CVN-72|6}} (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".
2003 Members of 101st Airborne of the United States, aided by Special Forces, attack a compound in Iraq, killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Mustapha Hussein, Qusay's 14-year old son, and a bodyguard.
2003 A car-bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Iraq kills the agency's top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 other employees.
2003 Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, is assassinated in a terrorist bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf.
2003 Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit (see Operation Red Dawn).
2004 War in Iraq: Al-Qaeda carries out the Ashoura Massacre in Iraq, killing 170 and wounding over 500.
2004 A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.
2004 U.S. media release graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
2004 The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, as prime minister of Iraq's interim government.
2004 Sovereign power is handed to the interim government of Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority, ending the U.S.-led rule of that nation.
2004 Care International aid worker Margaret Hassan is kidnapped in Iraq.
2004 War in Iraq: The interim government of Iraq calls for a 60-day "state of emergency" as U.S. forces storm the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
2004 War in Iraq: More than 10,000 U.S. troops and a small number of Iraqi army units participate in a siege on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
2004 The Paris Club agrees to write off 80% (up to $100 billion) of Iraq's external debt.
2005 A suicide bombing at a police recruiting centre in Al Hillah, Iraq kills 127.
2005 The car of released Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena is fired on by US soldiers after it runs a roadblock in Iraq, causing the death of an Italian Secret Service Agent and injuring two passengers.
2005 Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani becomes Iraqi president; Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari is named premier the next day.
2006 Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for the role in the massacre of the 148 Shi'as in 1982.
2006 Deposed President of Iraq Saddam Hussein, convicted of the executions of 148 Iraqi Shiites, is executed by hanging.
2007 Suspects are arrested in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq.
2008 President George W. Bush makes his fourth and final (planned) trip to Iraq as president and is almost struck by two shoes thrown at him by Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi during a news conference in Baghdad.
2009 A series of bombings in Baghdad, Iraq, kills 101 and injures 565 others.