Important Dates [8] [15]

Date Events

3000 B.C. Dilmun, the first great civilization on the Arabian Peninsula, is founded off the coast of Bahrain. It extends from Failaka Island, near Kuwait, toward the hills of Oman.

323 Alexander the Great, who was attracted to Arabia by its great wealth, dies, leaving his plan to explore the region unfulfilled. Nearchus, one of his admirals, establishes an important trading colony on Failaka Island.

200 B.C.–A.D. 100 The Nabatean Empire controls northwestern Arabia and grows rich by taxing frankincense caravans traveling between southern Arabia and Damascus.

300 Central and western Arabia develop into a loose arrangement of independent city-states, sustained by either the frankincense trade or by farming.

570 The Prophet Muhammad is born at Mecca. The Ma’rib Dam, which the livelihoods of 50,000 people depend upon, bursts and scatters the people of Adz in the peninsula’s most significant migration.

610 Muhammad receives his first revelation and begins to write the Koran, which lays the foundation of Islam.

622 Muhammad and his followers flee Mecca for Medina, marking the beginning of the first Islamic state.

632 Prophet Muhammad dies, and Islam flourishes despite his death.

632–650 Muslim capital is moved to Damascus, encompassing an empire from Spain to India. Mecca and Medina lose their political importance but gain importance as the spiritual homes of Islam.

850–1300 Arabia’s old trade routes collapse, and the Arabian Peninsula declines in wealth and importance. Petty sheikdoms bicker over limited resources under the control of Tatar moguls, Persians, and Ottoman Turks.

1498 A celebrated sailor from Oman, Ahmed bin Majid helps Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama navigate the Cape of Good Hope, leading to the occupation of the Arabian Peninsula a decade later.

1503 Italian explorer Ludovico de Varthema becomes the first non-Muslim to visit Mecca.

1871 The Ottoman Empire takes control of al-Ahsa oasis, one of the wonders of the world.

1902 Abd-al-Aziz Bin-Abd-al-Rahman Bin-Faisal Bin-Turki Bin-Abdallah Bin-Muhammed Al Saud, known as Ibn Saud, takes control of Riyadh, bringing the Al Saud family back to Saudi Arabia, which eventually leads to the formation of the Saudi Arabian nation.

1912 The Saudis gain politically and threaten to take over other Gulf sheikdoms. British intervention saves Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates from being subsumed into Saudi Arabia. The Ikhwan(Brotherhood) is founded based on Wahhabism; it grows quickly and provides key support for Ibn Saud.

1913 al-Ahsa oasis is captured from the Ottomans by Ibn Saud.

1921 Ibn Saud takes the title of Sultan of Najd.

1924–1925 The Kingdom of Hijaz, home to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina, is captured.

1926 Ibn Saud is proclaimed King of the Hijaz in the Grand Mosque of Mecca.

1928–1930 The Ikhwanturns against Ibn Saud due to modernization of the region and the increasing numbers of non-Muslims. Ibn Saud defeats them.

1932 Ibn Saud combines the two crowns of Hijaz and Najd, renaming his country the “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” Ibn Saud is proclaimed king.

1933 The Saadians begin their campaign to expel the Europeans.

1938 Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia, and production begins under the U.S.-controlled Aramco (Arabian American Oil Company).

1953 Ibn Saud dies and is succeeded by Crown Prince Saud. The new king’s brother Faisal is named Crown Prince.

1960 Saudi Arabia becomes a founding member of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries). The Middle East is producing 25% of the non-Communist world’s oil.

1964 King Saud is deposed by his brother Faisal.

1970 The OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference) is founded in Jeddah.

1972 Saudi Arabia gains control of a proportion (20%) of Aramco, lessening U.S. control over Saudi oil.

1973 Saudi Arabia leads an oil boycott against the Western nations that supported Israel in the October War against Egypt and Syria. Oil prices quadruple and cause shortages and crisis in the United States as well.

1975 In March, King Faisal is assassinated by his nephew and succeeded by his brother Khalid.

1979 Saudi Arabia severs diplomatic ties with Egypt after it makes peace with Israel.

1979 Extremists seize the Grand Mosque of Mecca; the government regains control after 10 days, and those responsible are captured and executed.

1980 Saudi Arabia takes full control of Aramco from the U.S.

1981 Saudi Arabia is a founding member of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council).

1982 King Khalid dies of a heart attack and is succeeded by his brother Crown Prince Fahd.

1986 King Fahd adds the title “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques” to his name.

1987 Saudi Arabia resumes diplomatic ties with Egypt.

1990 Saudi Arabia condemns Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and requests the U.S. to intervene. It allows foreign troops as well as the Kuwaiti government and many of its citizens to stay in Saudi Arabia, but expels citizens of Yemen and Jordan because of their governments’ support of Iraq. U.S. and Allied forces launch Operation Desert Storm.

1991 Saudi Arabia participates in both air attacks on Iraq and in the land force that goes on to liberate Kuwait.

1992 King Fahd announces the “Basic System of Government,” emphasizing the duties and responsibilities of a ruler. He proposes setting up a Consultative Council (Majlis al-Shura).

1993 King Fahd decrees the division of Saudi Arabia into 13 administrative divisions. The Majlis al-Shura is inaugurated. It is composed of a chairman and 60 members chosen by the king.

1994 Islamic dissident Osama bin Laden is stripped of Saudi nationality.

1995 King Fahd has a stroke in November. Crown Prince Abdullah takes on the daily administration of the country.

1996 King Fahd resumes control in February.

1996 In June, a bomb explodes at the U.S. military complex near Dhahran, killing 19 and wounding over 300.

1997 King Fahd increases membership in the Majlis al-Shura from 60 to 90..

1999 Twenty Saudi women attend a session of the Majlis al-Shura for the first time.

2001 Fifteen of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks in the U.S. are Saudi nationals. In December, King Fahd calls for the eradication of terrorism, saying it is prohibited by Islam. Government issues ID cards to women for the first time.

2002 Saudi foreign minister says Saudi Arabia will not allow the U.S. to use its facilities to attack Iraq, even in an UN-sanctioned strike.

2003 U.S. says it will pull out almost all its troops from Saudi Arabia, ending a military presence dating back to the 1991 Gulf War. Both countries stress that they remain allies.

2003 In May, suicide bombers kill 35 people at Western housing compounds, hours before a scheduled visit by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

2004 In February, a stampede at the hajj pilgrimage leaves 251 dead. In June, three gun attacks in Riyadh within a week leave two Americans and a BBC cameraman dead. That same week, a U.S. engineer working in Saudi Arabia is abducted and beheaded, and his execution is filmed and broadcast, causing revulsion in the U.S. In December, extremists attack U.S. consulate in Jeddah; five staff and four attackers are killed.

2005 From February–April, first nationwide municipal elections are held in Saudi Arabia. Women are not allowed to take part in polling. On August 1, the death of King Fahd is announced. He is succeeded by Crown Prince Abdullah. In November, the World Trade Organization (WTO) okays Saudi Arabia’s membership after 12 years of talks.

2006 Saudi Arabia moves to formalize the royal succession in an apparent bid to prevent in-fighting among the next generation of royal princes.

2008 Saudi Arabia and Qatar agree on final delineation of border.

2009 In February, Interpol issues its largest group alert for 85 men suspected for plotting attacks in Saudi Arabia. All but two are Saudis. King Abdullah fires the head of the Mutaween (religious police), the most senior judge, and the head of the central bank in a rare government reshuffle. He also appoints the country’s first female minister.

2009 In June, President Barack Obama visits Saudi Arabia as a part of a Middle East tour aimed at increasing U.S. engagement with the Islamic world. In July, a Saudi court issues verdicts in the first explicit terrorism trial for al-Qaeda militants in the country. Officials say 330 suspects were tried but do not specify how many were guilty. One is sentenced to death.

2010 In October, U.S. officials confirm plans to sell US$60 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia—the most lucrative single arms deal in U.S. history. In December, diplomatic cables intercepted by Wikileaks suggest U.S. concern that Saudi Arabia is the “most significant” source of funding for Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.

2011 In March, public protests are banned. King Abdullah warns of a “no tolerance” policy on threats to nation’s security and stability. In June, Saudi women mount a symbolic protest in defiance on ban on female drivers. In September, King Abdullah announces more rights for women, including the right to vote in elections in 2015, to run in municipal elections, and to be appointed to the Majlis al-Shura. A woman is sentenced to 10 lashes after being found guilty of driving, the first time a legal punishment has been handed down for violation on the ban on women drivers. King Abdullah overturns the sentence. In October, Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz al Saud is named heir to the throne, after Crown Prince Sultan. In December, U.S. confirms major sale of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

2012 In June, Crown Prince Nayef dies, succeeded by more liberal defense minister, the 76-year-old Prince Salman. Saudi Arabia agrees to allow female athletes to compete in the Olympics for the first time, against speculation that the entire Saudi athletic team might be disqualified on grounds of gender discrimination.

2013 In February, King Abdullah swears in 30 women to the Majlis al-Shura, a major step in female participation in public life. It is the first time women have been able to hold any political office. In October, Saudi Arabia turns down a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council, accusing the world body of double standards on account of what it sees as an international failure to act on Syria, where it staunchly backs the rebels.