1880s
King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the "Congo Free State" as his personal colony, and ruthlessly exploits its vast natural resources through slave labor.

1908
Congo is annexed by Belgium.

1960
Congo gains independence from Belgium.

1961
Congo's first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, is assassinated.

1965
Mobutu Sese Seko takes power in a military coup. Mobutu gets support from the West as an ally in the Cold War.

1991
As the Cold War ends, Mobuto faces strong pressure to democratize and international donors cut off funding to his regime

1994
Genocide in Rwanda kills at least 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The perpetrators of the genocide flee to Congo, where Mobutu allows them to launch attacks from Congo back into Rwanda.

1996
Uganda and Rwanda invade Congo and support Congolese rebels in war against Mobutu's government.

1997
Congolese rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila ousts Mobutu and assumes control of the country.

1998
After Kabila purges Rwandan elements from his government, Rwanda and Uganda re-invade Congo and set up proxy Congolese rebel groups.  Zimbabwe, Angola, and Namibia intervene to support Kabila and loot Congo's natural resources.  Conflict is dubbed "Africa's World War."

1999
A ceasefire is signed in Lusaka in July, but fighting continues.  A U.N. peacekeeping force, MONUC, deploys to the Congo.

2001
President Kabila is assassinated and replaced by his son, Joseph Kabila.

2002
A peace agreement signed in South Africa leads to the withdrawal of most foreign troops, but several militias continue to fight in eastern Congo.

2006
Joseph Kabila becomes Congo's first democratically-elected president since independence.

2008
After a botched offensive, Kabila signs a ceasefire with rebel militias in the East.  Fighting and atrocities persist, with thousands more people forced to flee their homes.