5400–4500 BCE: Vinča culture is born in what is today Belgrade's suburb of Vinča. Within the coming two millennia it evolves into a dominant neolithic culture in Europe, especially influencing the Balkans. Sometimes this era is called the First Golden Age of Belgrade. By 4500 BC Vinča culture disperses into several sub-cultures.[1]
15 December 1801: Kučuk-Alija murders Hadji Mustafa Pasha, marking the beginning of the renegade Janissary officers Dahije rule in Belgrade.
Ottoman and Serbian rule: 1804—1878
1804: Following the Slaughter of the Knezes, the Serbs organize themselves against the terror of the Dahije regime, marking the beginning of the First Serbian Uprising under the leadership of Karađorđe Petrović. Dahije leaders leave Belgrade, but are later captured and beheaded. The Ottomans reinstate their rule in Belgrade.
1805: Serbs refuse to disarm, the first armed confrontations between Serbs and the official Ottoman forces take place.
12 December [O.S. 30 November] 1806: Karađorđe Petrović captures Belgrade and makes it the capital of Serbia.
1808: First Serbian Academy, the Great School, is established.
28 July [O.S. 15 July] 1914: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. World War I begins with the bombing of Belgrade in the evening of the same day. Dušan Đonović falls as the first victim of the warfare.
2 December 1914: Austrians bombard and occupy Belgrade.
15 December 1914: The Serbs liberate Belgrade.
Austro-Hungarian occupation 1915–18
6–9 October 1915: German and Austrian troops led by August von Mackensen re-occupy Belgrade. Colonel Dragutin Gavrilović sacrifices the entire legion for the city.
1 November 1918: The Serbs liberate Belgrade.
Kingdom of Serbia 1918
24 November 1918: The Assembly of Syrmia proclaims the secession of Syrmia from the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and unification with the Kingdom of Serbia, thus unifying Belgrade with Zemun in the same state.
25 November 1918: The Great people's assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs proclaims the unification of Banat, Bačka and Baranja with the Kingdom of Serbia, thus unifying Belgrade and the settlements on the Danube's left bank in the same state.
28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1919: In order to coordinate the dating in different parts of the newly formed state, the territories of former Serbia and Montenegro adopt Gregorian calendar, which had already been in use in the other parts of the kingdom.
20 May 1938: Drying out of the wetland on the Sava's left bank begins, making place for the future New Belgrade.
14 December 1939: Leftist students' protests against the government, poverty and war. During the police breakdown of the demonstrations, five to ten protesters are killed (depending on the sources).
27 March 1941: Huge protests against joining the Axis.
6–8 April 1941: Nazi Germany bombs Belgrade (Operation Retribution). 2,271–4,000 casualties, depending on the sources. Many public and private buildings completely destroyed, including the building of the National Library of Serbia, along with an invaluable collection of books, manuscripts, charters, old maps, journals and many other documents. The Royal Yugoslav Army, while retreating, destroys all the bridges crossing Sava and Danube.
Nazi German occupation 1941–1944
12 April 1941: Belgrade is occupied by German forces.
April 1941 – October 1944: Belgrade is occupied and divided. Old part of the city becomes a part of Nazi Germany and the capital of the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, governed by puppet Government of National Salvation. The settlements on the Danube's left bank become a part of the Banat autonomous region, formally responsible to the puppet governments in Belgrade, but in practice governed by its Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) minority, while Zemun becomes a part of the Independent State of Croatia. Four concentration camps have operated on the territory of the occupied Belgrade: Sajmište, Banjica, Topovske Šupe, and Milišić's brickyard. Approximately 50,000 people have died in these camps, most of them in Sajmište concentration camp, on the territory controlled by the Independent State of Croatia.
April–September 1944: The Allies have bombed Belgrade eleven times. 1,000 – 5,000 civilian casualties, depending on the sources.
14 September 1944 – 24 November 1944: Belgrade Offensive by the units of the SovietRed Army and the Yugoslav Partisans. The main battles in the Belgrade's urban area took place 28 September 1944 – 20 October 1944.
20 October 1944: Liberation of Belgrade. Miladin Zarić, an ordinary citizen, saves Old Sava Bridge from demolition, by cutting the detonator wires, making it the only large bridge in Europe, beside Ludendorff Bridge, that the Germans didn't succeed in demolishing while retreating. This way, the Soviet troops manage to cross Sava river and to definitely expel the Germans from the city.
29 November 1945: The Constitutional Assembly proclaimed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. Monarchy was abolished and Josip Broz Tito started to rule officially. Industries nationalised. Large number of regime opponents arrested and sentenced to hard labour.
7 November 1946: The Pančevački most rebuilt and opened for railway transportation. The bridge was opened for road traffic on 29 November 1946.
11 April 1948: The building of New Belgrade officially started.
1950: Government introduced self-management of the industry by the employees.
13 July 1968: The terrorist attack in the "20. oktobar" cinema, during the projection of Du rififi à Paname. One person dead, 89 injured. Croatian Miljenko Hrkać convicted of the attack and sentenced to death.
1969: Beograđanka, one of the tallest buildings in the city built.
9 March 1991: Around 100,000 people demonstrate against the regime of Slobodan Milošević. One protester and one policeman are killed. Police and army tanks on the streets of Belgrade.
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006
27 April 1992: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia proclaimed, following the separation of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia from SFR Yugoslavia. The new country consists of Serbia and Montenegro.
27 June 2014: City officials officially present Belgrade Waterfront (Beograd na vodi), the €3.1 billion worthy project of the renewal of the Sava banks and the old part of the city.
18 December 2014: Pupin Bridge opened for traffic. The second Belgrade bridge over Danube and the first one connecting Zemun with the settlements on the Danube's left bank.
28 June 2023: Belgrade bypass sectors A and B finished after more than 30 years of construction, thus enabling the demotion of the highway which passed through the city center to a regular urban thoroughfare.
^Chapman, John (1981). The Vinča culture of south-east Europe: Studies in chronology, economy and society (2 vols). BAR International Series. Vol. 117. Oxford: BAR. ISBN978-0-86054-139-4.
^Vujović, Miroslav; Ljušić, Radoš (2008). Енциклопедија српског народа [Encyclopedia of Serbian people]. Zavod za udžbenike, Belgrade. p. 1006. ISBN978-86-17-15732-4.