1862 Bucharest proclaimed capital of Romania.
1862 Barbu Catargiu, the Prime Minister of Romania, is assassinated.
1863 In Romania the mountain railway from Anina to Oravita is used for the first time.
1870 The ''Republic of Ploieşti'', a failed Radical-Liberal rising against Domnitor Carol of Romania.
1877 Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania.
1877 Romania declares itself independent from the Ottoman Empire following the Senate adoption of Mihail Kogălniceanu's Declaration of Independence. This act is recognized on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian War of Independence.
1878 Treaty of Berlin: the European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman empire.
1913 Second Balkan War: delegates from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece sign the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the war.
1916 Romania declares war against Austria-Hungary, entering World War I as one of the Allied nations.
1916 World War I: Germany declares war on Romania.
1917 World War I: Battle of Mărăşeşti between the Romanian and German armies begins.
1918 Moldova and Bessarabia join Romania.
1918 Transylvania unites with Romania, following the incorporation of Bessarabia (March 27) and Bukovina (November 28).
1919 Romania annexes Transylvania.
1939 World War II: Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In a secret addition to the pact, the Baltic states, Finland, Romania, and Poland are divided between the two nations.
1939 Romanian Prime Minister Armand Calinescu is assassinated by ultranationalist members of the Iron Guard.
1940 World War II: under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.
1940 Romania cedes Bessarabia (current-day Moldova) to the Soviet Union.
1940 Treaty of Craiova: Romania loses Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria.
1940 In Romania, the ruling party Iron Guard arrests and executes over 60 of exiled King Carol II of Romania's aides, including former minister Nicolae Iorga.
1941 Romanian governmental forces, allies of Nazi Germany, launch one of the most violent pogroms in Jewish history in the city of Iaşi, (Romania), resulting in the murder of at least 13,266 Jews.
1941 World War II: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary and Romania.
1941 World War II: UK declares war on Bulgaria. Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. India declares war on Japan.
1941 World War II: Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States.
1942 World War II: United States declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.
1944 World War II: Romania is captured by the Soviet Union.
1944 World War II King Michael of Romania dismisses the pro-Nazi government of General Antonescu, who is arrested. Romania switches sides from the Axis to the Allies.
1944 The Romanian Army liberates Carei, the last Romanian city under Axis Powers occupation.
1945 Communist-dominated government under Petru Groza assumes power in Romania.
1947 King Michael of Romania is forced to abdicate by the Soviet Union-backed Communist government of Romania.
1955 Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka join the United Nations.
1987 In Braşov, Romania, workers rebel against the communist regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu.
1989 After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu's Communist dictatorship.
1989 Nicolae Ceauşescu, former communist dictator of Romania and his wife Elena are condemned to death and executed under a wide range of charges.
1990 The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
1999 Pope John Paul II travels to Romania becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.
2002 NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members.
2004 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join NATO as full members.
2005 Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union.
2007 Bulgaria and Romania officially join the European Union. Also, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish become official languages of the European Union, joining 20 other official languages.