1147 Prince Yuri Dolgoruky founds Moscow
1157 Original towers and walls of the Kremlin are completed
1237-38 Moscow is sacked by Tatars
c. 1330 Moscow becomes the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church; Ivan I constructs the Assumption Cathedral
1475-79 Grand Duke Ivan III (the Great) throws off Tatar rule
1533 Ivan IV (the Terrible) becomes Grand Duke of Moscow at three years of age
1547 Ivan the Terrible adopts the title 'tsar'
1552 & 1556 Battles against the Tatars; vanquishing of the 'Golden Horde'
1584 Ivan the Terrible dies; Fyodor succeeds him
1598 Boris Gudonov becomes tsar
1604 Pretender to the throne invades from Poland
1613 Poles are ousted from Moscow; Russian noblemen elect Michael Romanov as tsar
1682-96 Ivan V rules; the succession is disputed
c. 1695 Peter the Great takes the throne and embarks on dramatic reforms to modernise Russia
1703 Peter the Great decides to transfer the capital from Moscow to St Petersburg
1712 St Petersburg becomes Russia's capital city
1725 Death of Peter the Great
c. 1762-96 Catherine the Great rules Russia
Jun 1812 Napoleon invades Russia with half a million soldiers
7 Sep 1812 French and Russian armies clash at Borodino Field, 110km (70 miles) from Moscow
14 Sep 1812 Following withdrawal of Russian forces, Napoleon enters Moscow – but the city is empty and fires break out
Autumn 1812 Napoleon retreats from Moscow
1825 Decembrist Revolt fails; the monarchy is preserved and Nicholas I ascends the throne
1861 Alexander II abolishes serfdom
1891-1905 Construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway
1905 Nicholas II concedes to the creation of a constitution and Duma (parliament)
Oct 1917 Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, depose the Government; civil war continues until 1920
1918 Moscow becomes the capital again
1924 Lenin dies
1939 Joseph Stalin signs non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany
Jun 1941 Germans invade Russia and advance to within a few hundred miles of Moscow
1953 Stalin is succeeded by Nikita Kruschev
1980 Moscow hosts the Summer Olympics
Mar 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes general secretary and introduces glasnost and perestroika
1989 The first open elections since 1917
1990 Moscow party chief Boris Yeltsin is elected chairman of the Russian Republic
Jun 1991 Boris Yeltsin is elected as president
31 Dec 1991 Soviet Union ceases to exist; the Russian flag is unfurled on top of the Kremlin
1994 Moscow's mayor decides to rebuild Church of Christ the Saviour
1997 Celebrations for Moscow's 850th anniversary
17 Aug 1998 Rouble collapses
1999 Surprise resignation of Boris Yeltsin, who is succeeded by Vladimir Putin