History of Saudi Arabia - Timeline of Historical Events |

Birth of Islam (622 - 800)

Unification of Saudi Arabia (1900 - 1932)

Riyadh Falls

1902-01-15 Abdulaziz Ibn Saud leads 40 men over the walls of Riyadh and takes the city, marking the beginning of the Third Saudi State

1924-10-13 Mecca falls without struggle to Saudi forces led by Abdulaziz Ibn Saud
1925-12-12 Medina surrenders to Saudi forces led by Sultan Abdulaziz Ibn Saud
1925-12-17 Sultan Abdulaziz Ibn Saud conquers Jeddah, the last major stand of the Hashemites against the Saudis
1926-01-08 Abdulaziz Ibn Saud becomes King of Nejd and Hejaz; forerunner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
1927-05-20 Treaty of Jeddah is signed between the United Kingdom and Ibn Saud recognizing the independence of the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd, the forerunner of Saudi Arabia

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1932 - 1953)

1932-09-23 Abdulaziz Ibn Saud merges the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
1939-09-11 Iraq and Saudi Arabia declare war on Nazi Germany
1948-05-15 Troops from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia attack Israel
1948-05-18 Saudi Arabia joins invasion of Israel
1950-06-17 Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia & Syria sign security pact

Reigns of Saud and Faisal (1953 - 1975)

1955-10-26 British troops occupy Saudi Arabian oil field at Boeraimi
1955-10-28 Egypt and Saudi Arabia sign defense treaty

Faisal Appointed PM

1958-03-22 Under pressure King Saud appoints Faisal Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia

1960-09-14 Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi-Arabia and Venezuela form the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
1960-12-23 King Saud of Saudi Arabia takes power
1962-11-06 Saudi Arabia proclaims abolition of slavery
1964-11-02 Faisal succeeds Saud as king of Saudi Arabia
1965-09-24 Saudi Arabian & Egyptian accord over Yemen
1970-05-03 Trans-Arabian Pipeline delivery from Saudi Arabia to the Mediterranean interrupted in Syria, driving oil tanker rates to all time highs
1972-10-27 OPEC approves plan providing for 25 percent government ownership of all Western oil interests operating within Kuwait, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia
1973-03-02 "Black September" terrorists occupy Saudi Embassy in Khartoum
1973-10-16 The Gulf Six (Iran, Iraq, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar) unilaterally raise the posted price of Saudi Light marker crude-oil by 17 percent
1973-10-19 Saudi Arabia, Libya, and other Arab states proclaim an embargo on oil exports to the United States
1973-12-25 Arab oil ministers cancel January 5 percent production cut; Saudi Arabian oil minister promises 10 percent OPEC production rise
1974-02-12 Heads of state of Algeria, Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia discuss oil strategy in view of the progress in Arab-Israeli disengagement
1974-06-04 Saudi Arabia announces that it will increase its participation in Aramco to 60 percent
1974-06-08 US and Saudi Arabia sign military-economic contract
1974-09-06 Saudi Arabia increases its oil buy-back price from 93 percent to 94.9 percent of posted price

Reigns of Khalid and Fahd (1975 - 2005)

1975-12-12 Gas stove explodes & starts fire killing 138 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
1979-11-20 Islamic extremists led by Juhayman al-Otaybi occupy the Grand Mosque of Mecca, declare the arrival of the Mahdi (the "redeemer of Islam") in the form of Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani and call for the overthrow of the House of Saud. Siege lasts two weeks with 100s killed and sets Saudi Arabia on an ultra-conservative path. [1]
1979-12-13 Saudi Arabia raises marker crude price to $24 per barrel
1980-01-09 63 beheaded in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
1980-08-19 Saudi Arabian Lockhead Tristar crashes on landing at Riyadh, 301 die
1981-04-21 US furnish $1 billion in arms to Saudi-Arabia
1982-06-13 Fahd becomes King of Saudi Arabia after King Khalid dies at 69
1983-11-25 Syria & Saudi Arabia announce cease-fire in PLO civil war in Tripoli
1984-03-27 Beginning of "tanker war": over the next 9 months, 44 ships, including Iranian, Iraqi, Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti tankers, are attacked by Iraqi or Iranian warplanes or damaged by mines
1986-12-26 Captured Iraqi Airways Boeing-737 in Saudi Arabia, about 60 killed
1987-07-31 Battle between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi-Arabian troops, 402 killed
1990-07-02 1,426 pilgrims trampled to death after a panic in a tunnel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
1990-08-02 Iraq invades and occupies Kuwait, Emir flees to Saudi Arabia

Reign of King Abdullah (2005 - 2015)

2005-08-03 President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya of Mauritania is overthrown in a military coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia
2006-01-12 A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims
2009-11-25 Flooding in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; powerful storm brings 3 years worth of rain in 4 hours, killing over 150 people and sweeping thousands of cars away during Hajj
2011-01-14 Tunisian president Ben Ali, flees to Saudi Arabia after popular protests known as the Jasmine Revolution
2012-06-19 A man is beheaded for witchcraft and sorcery in Saudi Arabia
2012-06-24 Female athletes will be allowed to compete for Saudi Arabia at the Olympics for the first time
2012-09-17 13 people are killed in a bus accident in Jubail, Saudi Arabia
2012-09-28 Nigeria suspends flights to Saudi Arabia after hundreds of Nigerian women travelled without a male escort
2012-11-01 22 people are killed and 111 injured after a fuel tanker explodes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2013-05-01 16 people are killed in a flash flood in Saudi Arabia
2013-10-18 Saudi Arabia becomes the first country to turn down a seat on the UN Security Council in protest over Syria
2014-02-08 15 people are killed & 130 injured in a hotel fire in Medina, Saudi Arabia
2014-11-01 Australian A-League soccer club Western Sydney Wanderers draw 0-0 with Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh to win the AFC Champions League, 1-0 on aggregate

King Salman and Prince Mohammed (2015 - Present)

2015-06-26 Saudi suicide bomber kills 27 at Shia Imam al-Sadiq mosque in Kuwait, 227 injured
2015-09-11 A large crane collapses killing more than 100 people in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
2015-09-24 Stampede of people during the Hajj kills 717 people during symbolic stoning of the devil at Mina, near Mecca, Saudi Arabia
2015-12-12 First women ever elected in Saudi Arabia in municipal council elections
2016-01-02 Saudi Arabia executes 47 alleged terrorists, including Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr

Trump's First Foreign Trip

2017-05-20 US President Donald Trump begins his 1st foreign trip arriving in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

2017-06-05 Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt sever ties with Qatar, citing its support of terrorist groups, Yemen, the Maldives and Libya follow suit
2017-06-23 Saudi Arabia and allies, Egypt, UAE and Bahrain issue list of 13 conditions to Qatar in return for lifting sanctions, including closing Al Jazeera TV
2017-08-23 Air strike on hotel in Yemen capital Sanaa by Saudi-led coalition leaves at least 30 dead
2017-09-23 Women are allowed in King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh for the first time during Saudi Arabia's 87th anniversary celebrations
2017-09-26 Saudi Arabia announces it is overturning its ban on women driving - last country in the world to do so

Moderate Islam for Saudi Arabia

2017-10-24 Crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman vows to return Saudi Arabia to moderate Islam after announcing a $500b independent economic zone

2017-11-04 Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigns in a shock TV broadcast from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, amid concerns he is being forcibly detained
2017-11-04 Saudi Arabia arrests 11 princes and other ministers on corruption charges, including billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
2017-11-09 Saudi Arabia's attorney general Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb says 201 more people have been held for questioning in anti-corruption drive
2017-12-11 Saudi Arabia announces an end to its 35 year ban on cinemas
2018-01-23 Twelve camels disqualified from the King Abdulaziz Camel beauty contest, Saudi Arabia after their owners used botox on their lips
2018-03-20 Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with US President Donald Trump at the White House
2018-04-18 “Black Panther” is the first film shown at a commercial cinema in 35 years in Saudi Arabia as cinemas are reopened
2018-04-22 Saudi-led coalition airstrike kills more than 20 at a wedding in northwestern Yemen
2018-06-12 Battle for key Yemen port of Hudaydah begins with assault by Saudi backed pro-government forces against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels
2018-06-24 Women drive for the first time in Saudi Arabia after ban is lifted
2018-08-06 Saudi Arabia's state airline suspends direct flights to Toronto and expels ambassador after Canada calls for release of detained activists for civil and women's rights
2018-08-09 Saudi-led air coalition strikes a school bus in Sada Province, Yemen, killing 43, many of them children

Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi

2018-10-02 Saudi American journalist Jamal Khashoggi enters the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, never to be seen again prompting a diplomatic crisis

2018-10-23 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejects Saudi claim journalist Jamal Khashoggi killed accidentally, says it was premeditated murder
2018-10-31 US and Great Britain call for a cease-fire in Saudi-led war in Yemen, in 3-year war that has claimed over 10,000 lives and created famine conditions
2018-11-01 Ground assault mounted on Yemeni port city of Hudaydah by Saudi-backed government forces
2018-11-16 CIA concludes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
2018-12-13 Cease-fire in port city of Hudaydah, Yemen, by Houthi rebels and Saudi-led coalition announced by the UN
2018-12-13 US Senate passes non-binding "war powers resolution" against long-term ally Saudi Arabia
2019-01-12 18-year-old Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun arrives in Toronto, Canada, as a refugee, via Thailand, after escaping family abuse in Saudi Arabia
2019-04-01 Saudi Arabian oil company Saudi Aramco revealed to be world's most profitable company when its earnings released - $111.1 billion in the last year
2019-08-02 Saudi Arabia announces news rules for women including allowing them to travel independently abroad without a male guardian's permission

Al-Bashir Admits Corruption

2019-08-19 Sudanese Ex-President Omar al-Bashir admits he has received $90 million from Saudi Arabian royals at the start of his corruption trial in Khartoum

2019-09-01 Saudi-led coalition air strikes on Yemen city of Dhamar kills more than 100 people according to the Red Cross
2019-09-14 Drone attack on Abqaiq oil plant in Saudi Arabia takes out half of country's oil production and 5% of the world's. Yemen Houthi rebels claim responsibility.
2019-09-18 Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry says Iran was to blame for drone attack on Saudi oil facilities
2019-09-29 Houthi rebels from Yemen claim they have killed 500 Saudi soldiers and captured 2,000 along with military a convoy in Najran region, Saudi Arabia
2019-11-03 Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil producer Saudi Aramco, the world's most profitable company, announces its plans to go public
2019-12-05 Saudi state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco raises a record $25.6 billion in its first public share offering, makes it the world's most valuable company at $1.7 trillion
2020-02-26 Saudi Arabia bars overseas pilgrims from accessing religious sites of Mecca and Medina because of COVID-19 fears for 1st time in living memory
2020-03-06 Russia refuses to reduce oil production over COVID-19 fears, breaking with Saudi Arabia and OPEC and prompting a price war
2020-04-08 Saudi-backed coalition fighting Houthi fighters in Yemen calls for a ceasefire after five years to stop the spread of COVID-19
2020-06-21 Saudi Arabia bans international visitors from making the Islamic Hajj pilgrimage in 2020 due to COVID-19
2020-07-01 WHO says Middle East at "critical threshold" with COVID-19 cases over 1 million, 80% of deaths in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia
2020-07-29 Scaled back Hajj pilgrimage begins in Saudi Arabia with no foreigners
2020-09-18 Earliest dated evidence for the human species in the Arabian Peninsula as fossilized footprints 120,000 years old uncovered in Saudi Arabia's Nefud Desert [1]
2021-01-05 Six Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, sign an agreement to ease the blockage with Qatar, in place since 2017

US Ends Support for Yemen War

2021-02-04 US President Joe Biden announces an end to US support for the Saudi-led offensive in Yemen's civil war

2022-02-17 28,000 women apply for 30 jobs driving trains after they are advertised for women in Saudi Arabia for the first time [1]
2022-03-12 Saudi Arabia executes 81 convicted criminals, the country's largest known mass execution in modern times [1]
2022-06-09 The controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series gets underway at the Centurion Club, Hertfordshire; PGA suspends 17 participating players
2022-07-28 Saudi Arabia unveils plans for futuristic 106 mile one-building city "The Line" to house 9 million people, powered by renewable sources with no roads [1]

Ronaldo's Record Salary

2023-01-03 Cristiano Ronaldo joins Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr for the “biggest salary ever in football”, leaving Manchester United after criticizing it publicly [1]

2023-03-10 Arch rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia agree to re-establish diplomatic ties between them in a surprise move, after talks in Beijing [1]
2023-03-12 Oil company Saudi Aramco posts earnings of $161 billion for 2022 - highest-ever recorded annual profit by a publicly listed company [1]
2023-05-17 World's oldest architectural plans revealed on two stone monoliths mapping huge prehistoric stone structures called desert kites - thought to trap wild animal herds, in Southeastern Jordan and Northern Saudi Arabia [1]
2023-05-21 First female Arab astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi, from Saudi Arabia goes into space on Axiom Space's second private mission, with fellow Saudi Ali Alqarni and Americans, Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner [1]
2023-06-06 In a stunning development, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf League agree to unify to create its own for-profit entity to be run by the PGA Tour and funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund
2023-08-21 Saudi border guards accused of killing hundreds of migrants, shooting them as they tried to cross into the country from Yemen in report by Human Rights Watch [1]
2024-01-01 Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE become BRICS members

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History of Saudi Arabia - Timeline of Historical Events