643. The Arabs invade Libya and rule over it until the 1500s when the Ottoman Empire conquers it.
1911. Italy replaces the Ottoman Empire as the colonizer of Libya.
1945. Libya is divided between Britain and France at the end of World War II.
1951. Libya becomes independent, and King Idris establishes a monarchy.
1959. The first commercially viable oilfield is discovered at Zelten.
1960s. Libya emerges as a major oil-producing country.
1969. Colonel Muammar Qadhafi stages a coup and overthrows the monarchy.
1977. Libya was renamed as the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Inspired by Colonel Qadhafi, workers assume control of the private manufacturing sector.
1978. The United States imposes sanctions on Libya for its alleged state terrorism.
1982. The USA bans Libyan crude oil imports.
1992. The United Nations imposes sanctions on Libya for its refusal to hand over suspects implicated in the 1988 bombing of a Pan American airliner.
1993. UN sanctions expand to freeze Libyan financial assets abroad.
1996. The United States imposes secondary sanctions, the "Iran and Libya Sanctions Act," targeting non-American companies wishing to invest more than US$40 million a year in the Iranian and Libyan oil industries.
1999. UN sanctions are suspended as Libya, the United Kingdom, and the United States agree on the trial of the 2 suspects in the Netherlands.