| Year | Date | Event |
| 98 | | Roman historian Tacitus wrote in the book Germania about aesti tribes, but it is not clear if he was talking about the linguistic ancestors of modern Estonians. |
| 6th century | | The Guta Saga tells how Vikings from Gotland sailed to Dagaithi island (Hiiumaa, Dagö) and built a fortification there. |
| 600 | | King Ingvar of Sweden invaded Estonia and was killed at the place called Stein and was buried in the region of Adalsysla. Although his son Anund would have a reputation for being peaceful, the news of his father's death at the hands of the Estonians briefly changed his character. Snorri Sturluson wrote: King Onund went with his army to Estland to avenge his father, and landed and ravaged the country round far and wide...' [1] |
| 862 | | Warring tribes of Chuds (Finnic tribes related to, or including, Estonians) and Slavs invited Viking leaders Rurik, Truvor and Sineus to rule them, which was the foundation of the county of Kievan Rus'. Truvor chose Izborsk as his residence, near what is now the Estonian border with Russia. |
| 967 | | According a legend, Olav Tryggvason, the future king of Norway, was captured by Estonian pirates, sold as a slave and later freed with the help of tax gatherers from Novgorod. |
| 972 | | A battle between Estonian and Icelandic Vikings in Saaremaa described in Njál's saga. |
| 1008 | | Olav Haraldsson, the future king of Norway, landed on Saaremaa island, won a battle there and forced the inhabitants to pay tribute. |
| 1030 | | Prince Yaroslav I the Wise of Kiev conquered the Tarbatu stronghold in Ugandi and named it Yuryev (now Tartu), dedicated to his patron saint, St. George (Yuri). |
| 1032 | | Led by the Swedish Viking Uljeb (Rongvold’s son Ulf), a fleet from Novogorod made a military expedition to Kolivan, but only reached the “iron gate” (the straits between Aegna, Kräsul, and Rohuneeme) where they were defeated by the Estonians in a sea battle. |
| 1060 | | Prince Iziaslav Yaroslavich of Kiev imposed a heavy tribute on the sosol tribe of Chuds (either Saaremaa islanders, Sakalans or Setus). |
| 1061 | | Estonians of the sosol tribe destroyed the castle of Yuryev and carried out raids in the Pskov region. |
| 1075 | | Chronicler Adam of Bremen mentions the island of Aestland in the northern Baltic Sea, whose inhabitants worship dragons and birds and make human sacrifices. |
| 1113 | | Estonians made a raid against the Pskov and Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich of Kiev defeated the Chuds in a place called Boru (maybe Izborsk). |
| 1116 | | Mstislav Vladimirovich together with troops from Pskov and Novgorod made a raid against the Chuds and conquered castle named Medvezh'ya Golova (now Otepää) in Southern Estonia. |
| 1132 | | Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich of Novgorod was defeated by the Estonians of Vaiga(Klin) province. |
| 1134 | | Prince Vsevolod fought against the Chuds and won the fortification of Yuryev (Tartu). |
| 1154 | | Arab geographer Al Idrisi mentioned the country of Estonia (Astlanda) and places that might be Tallinn ((q/t)lwny), Pärnu (brn), Hiiumaa (dgwd), Hanila anhw and unidentified location flmwse. |
| 1165 | | A Benedictine, Fulco, from Moutier La Celle convent was named Bishop of the Estonians by the Archbishop of Lund. |
| 1170 | | Danish king Valdemar I fought with Couronian and Estonian pirates near Öland island. |
| 1171 | | Bishop Fulco and his deputy Nicolaus (an ethnic Estonian convert from Stavanger convent, Norway) made a missionary journey to Estonia. |
| 1177 | | Estonians attacked and burn Pskov during winter. |
| 1187 | | Pagan pirates, probably Estonians and Karelians, ravaged the Mälaren area in Sweden, burned down the city of Sigtuna, and killed the archbishop. |
| 1191 | | Cistercian monk Theoderich, future Bishop of Estonia, made an unsuccessful missionary journey to Estonia. |
| 1192 | | Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich of Novgorod made two raids against the Estonians, burning down Tartu and Otepää castles. |
| 1203 | | Estonian Saaremaa (Ösel) islanders ravage areas of Southern Sweden then belonging to Denmark. Later the returning pirates skirmished with the German settlers of Riga near the town of Visby in Gotland. |
| Year | Date | Event |
| 1918 | February 24 | Estonian Declaration of Independence |
| March 3 | Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Bolshevist Russia cedes sovereignty over Estonia to Germany. |
| November 11 | Germans began withdrawal and turn over power to the provisional government of Estonia (headed by Konstantin Päts). |
| November 22 | Estonia was invaded by Bolshevist Russian forces. Beginning of Estonian War of Independence. |
| 1919 | | Bolsheviks were driven out of Estonia. |
| October 10 | Agrarian Law passed redistributing many of the estates owned by Baltic Germans and Estonian landowners. |
| 1920 | February 2 | Treaty of Tartu which gave Estonia recognition by Soviet Russia. |
| June 15 | Adoption of Constitution. |
| 1922 | September 22 | Estonia joined the League of Nations. |
| 1933 | October 14–16 | Plebiscite in favour of constitutional reform giving wide powers to a new office of the president. |
| 1934 | January 24 | New constitution in effect. |
| March 12 | Konstantin Päts with the help of General Johan Laidoner set up a virtual dictatorship. Parliament was prorogued and political parties were banned. Many members of the Vaps Movement were arrested. |
| 1937 | July 29 | A new constitution in force with civil liberties and democracy restored but with a very strong presidency. |
| 1938 | February 24 | Election sees National Front winning 63 seats and all the opposition winning 17 seats. |
| April 24 | Konstantin Päts elected president. |
| Kaarel Eenpalu became prime minister of Estonia. |
| 1939 | August 23 | The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed, promising mutual non-aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and agreeing to a division of much of Europe between those two countries. |
| Jüri Uluots becomes prime minister of Estonia. |
| 1940 | June 17 | The Red Army occupied Estonia and Latvia. |
| August 6 | Estonia was unlawfully declared the Estonian SSR and was, against the law, incorporated into the Soviet Union. |
| 1941 | June 14 | Mass deportations by Soviet Union authorities take place in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. |
| June 22 | Germany attacked Soviet Union, Estonian partisans (Forest Brothers) started revolting in Southern Estonia. |
| German troops took with help of the Forest Brothers Estonia over from the Soviets. |
| August 28 | Sinking of an Soviet steamer with 3500 Soviet-mobilized Estonian men on board, 598 of them died. |
| December 1 | Self-government of Estonia, headed by Hjalmar Mäe, is appointed by German military administration. |
| 1944 | January 30 | Battle of Narva: The first Soviet units crossed Estonian border. |
| February 24 | Battle of Narva: Estonian volunteers launched a counterattack at Narva river. |
| March 6 | WWII: Soviet Army planes attack Narva in Estonia, destroying almost the entire old town. |
| March 9 | WWII: Soviet Army planes attack Tallinn, Estonia. |
| July 26 | Battle of Narva: The Soviets captured Narva. |
| July 29 | Battle of Tannenberg Line: The Estonian and German counterattack stopped Soviet advance towards Tallinn. |
| August 26 | The Soviets captured most of Tartu, what became frontline city for almost a month. |
| September 18 | Jüri Uluots, prime minister in capacity of president of Estonia, asks Otto Tief to form a government on the eve of the withdrawal of German forces; official gazette published proclaiming the Tief government. |
| September 20 | Otto Tief attempts to organise the defence of Tallinn against the arrival of the Red Army two days later. |
| September 22 | The Soviets captured Tallinn. |
| Otto Tief was captured by Soviet forces; Jüri Uluots and members of the Tief government escaped to Sweden. |
| December 19 | The entire territory of Estonia was captured by the Red Army. |
| 1949 | March 25 | An extensive deportation campaign was conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Soviet authorities deported more than 92,000 people from the Baltics to remote areas of the Soviet Union. |
| 1955 | July 19 | Estonian Television (ETV) began broadcasting. |
| 1978 | September 28 | One of the last Forest Brother guerilla movement fighter August Sabbe was discovered and killed in Estonia. |
| 1980 | | Youth riots in the capital of the Soviet Republic of Estonia were quickly forced down. |
| 1988 | | In Estonia, 300,000 demonstrated for independence. |
| November 16 | The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR declared that Estonia is "sovereign" but stopped short of declaring independence. |
| Estonian became the official language of Estonia. |
| 1989 | | After 44 years, the Estonian flag was raised on the Pikk Hermann castle tower. |
| Two million indigenous people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, then still occupied by the Soviet Union, joined hands to demand freedom and independence, forming an uninterrupted 600 km human chain called the Baltic Way. |
| 1991 | | Latvia and Estonia voted for independence from the Soviet Union. |
| August 20 | The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR recognized Estonian independence from the Soviet Union. |
| The United States recognized the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. |
| September 6 | The Soviet Union recognized the independence of the Baltic States. |
| 1992 | June 20 | The Soviet ruble was replaced with kroon. |
| Estonia held a referendum on its constitution. |
| Heinrich Mark and the government in exile appointed by him cede their credentials to the newly elected Riigikogu. |
| Lennart Meri was elected President of Estonia. |
| 1994 | | The Russian army left Estonia. |
| September 28 | The car ferry MS Estonia sank in the Baltic Sea, killing 852. |
| 2001 | | 68 people died in Estonia after drinking bootleg alcohol that contained methanol. |
| 2002 | | Estonia hosted the first Eurovision Song Contest in a former Soviet republic. |
| North Atlantic Treaty Organization Summit in Prague: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia were invited to join NATO. |
| 2003 | | Estonia approved joining the European Union in a referendum with 66% agreed with joining and 34% were against it. |
| 2004 | March 29 | The largest expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to date takes place, allowing Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia into the organization. |
| May 1 | The largest expansion to date of the European Union took place, extending the Union by 10 member-states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta and Cyprus. |
| 2005 | | The same storm which pounded the U.S. earlier in the month hit England, Scandinavia and the Baltic States, leaving 13 dead with widespread flooding and power cuts. |
| A passenger helicopter en route to Helsinki, Finland crashed into the sea near Tallinn, Estonia, killing 14. |
| 2006 | | Toomas Hendrik Ilves was elected President of Estonia. |
| 2007 | April 27 | Russians riot in Tallinn, Estonia, about moving the Bronze Soldier. Two nights of rioting left one dead. Cyber attacks launched against Estonia. |
