1458: The Ottomans start conquering Greece, including Athens.
1460:The Ottomans dominated southern Greece and the Peloponnese.
1466: The Venetians temporarily seize Athens.
Mid-1480s: An Ottoman fleet of 160 ships appeared near Rhodes, a Greek island.
Many Jews actively defended the city against the Ottomans.
1500: Michael Marullus, a famous Greek poet drowns.
1519 : Thessaloniki , a large city in Greece, was highly populated with Jewish
people trying to elude the Spanish Inquisition and other discrimination in Europe.
Late 1522 : Rhodes, a Greek islands falls to an invasion of over 100,000 Ottomans.
1533-1534: The Ottoman Emperor plans to seize the fortress of Coron by their navy
force, except it was currently captured by a Spanish admiral. The following year,
the Ottomans finally seized the fortress using their land army.
1560: The Greek orthodox “Monastery of Rousanou” was founded. It is in Meteora,
an area of Monasteries built upon highly elevated pillars of sandstone.
1571: Members of the Christian League defeated an Ottoman fleet of ships in a naval
battle in Lepanto, Greece. The Ottomans lost over a hundred ships.
1575: The Kareas monastery was able to be rebuilt, which was fortunate because most
temples weren’t aloud to be repaired.
1578: The monastery in Penteli was also rebuilt; however, the rebuilt temples had to be on
lower elevated ground.
1592: A Greek explorer discovered the “Strait of Juan de Fuca” in Canada.
1601: Mehmed III, an Ottoman Sultan, forced eligible youths to be trained for the
Ottoman military (Janissaries ).
Early 1600: Famous writer/poet, Vikentios Kornaros publishes Erotokritos, a romance
themed epic poem. He was a major figure from the “Cretan Renaissance”.
1620: Operas began forming around Europe inspired by early Greeks.
1627-1637: Parecclesion , a chapel of a Byzantine church, was built in 1627 and decorated
in 1637 .
1645: The explosion of gunpowder on the Acropolis destroys the Propylaea, a monumental
gateway to Athens.
Mid 1600: New varieties of the primrose flower were found in Greece which were edible
and used as medicine.
1658: French Capuchin friars arrive in Greece. Friars are members of a religious order.
1669: The Ottomans capture the island of Crete, which was previously under Venetian rule. This
led to the end of the “Cretan Renaissance”.
1686: The Ottomans devastate the Temple of Nike on the Athenian Acropolis.
1687: Battles for the Greek islands between the Venetians and the Ottomans lead to the destruction
of the Parthenon temple.
1690: The Ottomans and Greeks return to Athens after the Venetians took it over.
1700: Embroidered fabrics became popular in Greek fashion.
1711: Phanariot Greeks replace the Romanians as governors of the Romanian districts of Wallachia
and Moldavia. The Phanariot class was made up of wealthy and highly educated people.
1715: The Ottomans recapture the Peloponnesus peninsula back from the Venetians.
1714-1718: The Ottoman–Venetian War was between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman
Empire. The war ended with an Ottoman victory and the loss of Venice's possession in the
Greek Peloponnese peninsula.
1730: Cartography was popular and many antique maps were made during this decade of Greece
and the Ottoman empire.
1741: The Monastery of the Holy Trinity was remodeled.
1748: Birth of Adamantios Korais, an influential Phanariot. He was a humanist scholar and a major
figure in the Greek Enlightenment.
1759: Tsisdarakis, governor of Athens, builds a mosque in Monastiraki.
However, he did this without permission of the Sultan, and was fined
and expelled from his position.
1770: The Orlov Revolt occurred as a precursor to the Greek war for
independence. There were battles between the Ottomans against the
Greeks and Russians. The Russians and Greeks were able to damage
the Ottoman fleet but overall, many lives were lost.
1774: Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji exposed the Turkish straits to Russian trade.
1775: Ali Hadji Haseki becomes ruler of Athens.
1778: Ali Hadji Haseki builds city wall in Athens known as “Haseki's Wall”.
1789-1792: An Outbreak of the plague reduced the Athenian population.
The forms of the plague were: bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic. It was
transferred and spread from small animals like rats.
1795: Ali Hadji Haseki was removed from office.
1795: Haseki was decapitated by order of Grand Vizier, a high figure of the
Ottoman Empire.
1801: Thomas Bruce, a Scottish nobleman and diplomat, received a permit
from the Ottoman authorities to start removing marble sculptures from the
Parthenon.
1816: Lord Elgin sold the Parthenon sculptures to the British government for
35,000 pounds.
March 1821: The Greeks on the Peloponnesian Peninsula rebelled and set a Greek
flag in Moldavia declaring independence.
January 1st, 1822: The first Greek Constitution was a formal document made at the
first national assembly of Epidaurus.
March 1823: A second national assembly took place and a new constitution was
created.
1823-1824: The first civil war broke out from differences in ideas among the
various forces united to establish Greek Independence.
1825: The second civil war broke out from similar causes of the first one.
1827: Britain, France and Russia, supporting Greek independence, defeat the
Ottoman fleets at Navarino
1828: Russia declared war on Ottomans to support Greece's independence.
1833: Athens becomes capital of Greece.
1834: People start to rebuild Athens after the war.
1843: King Otto of Greece agrees to arrange a national assembly to prepare a
constitution.
1844: The Greek Constitution of 1844 is nominated into effect.
1856: Gunpowder in a church exploded which killed 4,000 people in Rhodes.
1862: Britain decided to donate the Ionian islands to Greece.
1863: The reign of King George begins in Greece.
1866-1889: A three year rebellion in Crete occurred against Ottoman rule.
1868: Greece joins Latin Monetary Union which was an attempt to unify several
European currencies into a single currency .
1870: The “Dilessi murders” were when three English and
one Italian aristocrat were murdered by Greek brigands. This caused conflict
between Greece and Great Britain.
1877: Prime Minister, Constantine Kanaris dies. He was considered a hero of the
war of independence.
1880: Many Greeks start emigrating to America because of economic problems.
1893: The Corinth Canal was completed which separates
the Peloponnesian peninsula from the Greek mainland.
1895: Georgios Averoff, a Greek philanthropist, paid for the rebuilding of the
Panathenaic stadium in Athens for the Olympics.
1896: First modern Olympic Games held in Athens.
1897: There was War between Greece and Turkey over Crete; in September, a
peace treaty was signed.
1898: Renovation and renewing of the Parthenon begins.
1905: Prime Minister of Greece, Theodoros Deligiannis, was assassinated.
1910: Eleftherios Venizelos becomes the new Prime Minister of Greece.
1912: Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia together launch the First Balkan War against Turkey
1913: The island of Crete officially becomes a part of Greece.
1913: King George is assassinated in Thessaloniki, a Greek city.
May 1913: The countries involved in the war sign the Treaty of London, which ends the war.
June 1913: Bulgarian forces attack Greece and Serbia which leads to the beginning of the
Second Balkan War.
August 1913: The countries sign the Treaty of Bucharest, which ends the Second Balkan War.
1917: Greece officially declares war on the ”Central Powers” involved in World War I.
1918: The signing of the pact, Armistice of Mudros, ended World War I in the Middle-East.
1919: Another Greek and Turkish war took place as an aftershock of World War I.
1923: The Greeks and Turkish sign the Treaty of Lausanne.
1923: Greece faces refugee dilemma with the influx of approximately 1.5 million Greeks from
the Asia Minor Penninsula.
December 1923: King George II is asked to leave the country.
1924: Greece is proclaimed a republic nation and Pavlos
Kountouriotis becomes the first President.
1925: President Pavlos Kountouriotis resigns from office.
1932: A village in Chalcidice, Greece is wiped out by an earthquake;
161 people are reported dead.
1933: Kos, a Greek Island, is struck by an earthquake; 200 people die.
November 1935: King George II returns to the throne.
1940: Greece invaded by Italy in World War II.
1941: The German Army invades Greece.
1941: Germany and Italy impose a naval blockade on Greece cutting
off imports like food. People go famine during the winter.
1944: Greece has a another civil war after Germany's withdrawal from
Greece.
1947: King George II dies of a sudden heart attack in Athens.
1950: Greece joins the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
1952: Alexander Papagos is elected prime minister of Greece.
1953: A series of earthquakes devastates Zakynthos and Cephallonia,
Greek islands, resulting in 476 deaths. Israel came to help.
1954: George Grivas heads a guerrilla movement fighting for Cyprus's
independence from Britain and union with Greece.
1955: A mob attack directed at the Istanbul's Greek minority killed sixteen people.
1956: Many deaths and property damage was caused by tsunami in Santorini and
the nearby Greek islands.
1962: Greece joins the European Common Market.
1963: Lambrakis’ funeral took place in Athens and was attended by more than
500,000 people. He was one of the most influential personalities of Greece in the
1960s.
1963: Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis resigned and left for Paris.
1963-1965: The Center Union Party of George Papandreou came to power.
1967: A coup under leadership by Colonel George Papadopoulos came to power
introducing a “dark period” to Greek politics.
1970: Inflation began in the Greek economy.
1973: A massacre occurs at the Polytechnic University.
1974: Constantine Karamanlis returned and his democracy political party won the
election and he became prime minister again.
1975: A new constitution was adopted.
1977: Greeks announced the discovery of the tomb of King Philip II, father of
Alexander the Great.
1978: An earthquake hits the Greek city of Thessaloniki killing 45 people.
1978: Official flag of Greece was adopted.
1980: Oil tank explosion off the coast of Pilos, Greece, caused a 37-million-gallon spill.
1981: Andreas Papandreou becomes Greece's first socialist Prime Minister.
1986: The TWA Flight 840 is bombed on the way to Athens, but lands safely killing a few people
on board.
1990: Inflation percents hit the double-digits at 16% in the Greek economy.
1996: Andreas Papandreou dies.
1999: A powerful earthquakes hits Turkey and the Greeks help even though they are rival
countries.
September 11th, 2001: 33 Greek-Americans were killed and the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox
Church was completely buried by the collapse of the South Tower.
2004: Second Athens Olympic Games held.
2006: A gang of robbers stole about two million dollars from a Greek casino.
2007: Bulgaria, Russia and Greece signed a deal in Athens to build a 175-mile pipeline to
transport oil.
2007: Numerous wildfires occurred killing many people and burning thousands of acres of forests.
2009: Greek public services and transport was closed down across the country as thousands of
workers went on strike to protest government spending cuts.
2010: Greek debt rises and Greece receives a 14.5 billion euro loan from the EU and
can now repay its immediate debt. The country still tries to get out of its recession.
September 2010: A smoking ban went into effect and prevented tobacco advertising.
October 2010: China offered to buy Greek government bonds to help with debt.
2011: Greek finance minister is replaced.
July 2011: EU countries give €109 billion to Greece.
August 2011: Austria, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia said they want hundreds of
millions of euros in collateral .
February 2012: Greece’s Parliament approved cutbacks of €3.4 billion ($4.31 billion).
King George was born December 24th, 1845; he died March 118th, 1913.
George was assassinated in Thessaloniki.
His reign was almost 50 years (the longest in modern Greek history). It was
from March 30th,1863 – 18 March 1913.
He was originally a Danish Prince.
 He began a new royal dynasty in Greece that lasted for over a century.
He provided the first potential alliance for the Greeks in their modern history.
(Russia)
His kept a good relationship with his brother-in-law, King Edward VII of
England, which also kept a good relationship between the countries.
Because King George I made these alliances and positive relationships with
other countries, these countries helped them against the Turkish/Ottomans.
He had the Corinth Canal built which saved sailors 185 nautical miles because
they didn’t have to circumnavigate the Peloponnesian Peninsula anymore.
Kolokotrónis was born April 3rd, 1770; he died February 4th, 1843.
He was a chief field marshal during the War of Independence.
There is a statue of Kolokotrónis in Athens to honor his bravery during the war.
His armor was also put on display in the National History Museum of Greece in
Athens.
He next commanded Greek troops to siege the coastal town of Nafplion. He took
the port, which prevented the Ottoman city from receiving supplies which is was
low on.
In August 1822, his guerrilla forces trapped the Ottomans in Nafplion and
eradicated them.
With the help of Great Britain, France, and Russia, they were able to destroy the
Egyptian fleet attacking the Peloponnesian peninsula.
He was born on April 27th,1748; he died April 6th, 1833.
He was born in the Asia Minor peninsula.
 He encouraged wealthy Greeks to open new libraries and
schools throughout Greece.
He translated ancient Greek works such as the Iliad.
Korais also had relationships with some authors of the Greek
constitution that was made after the War for Independence; this
gave him the opportunity to influence some ideas in it.
There is also a statue of him in Athens.
He was born March 8th,1907; he died April 23rd, 1998.
 Karamanlis was a four-time Prime Minister, and
president twice of Greece.
In 1955, he became Greece's youngest prime minister.
He rebuilt Greece's economy following the most
recent civil war of this time.
Also, he helped break Greece’s political and
economic dependence on the US.
 He signed the Treaty of Association with the
European Economic Community .
He made Greece a member of the European Union .
 There’s a statue of him in Rhodes.
 He was born August 23rd, 1864; he died March 18th, 1936.
He was elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece, serving
from 1910-1932 (not consecutively).
He played a significant role in the union of the island of Crete and
Greece.
He helped gain Greece entry to the Balkan League , which were
countries against the Ottomans.
In addition, he helped Greece double its area and population.
He represented Greece in the negotiations leading to the signing of
the Treaty of Lausanne.
 There is a statue of him in Theriso, Crete.
The Greeks had been under Ottoman rule (Turkish) since the mid-1400s. On
March 25th, 1821, Greeks on the Peloponnesian Peninsula rebelled from news in
Moldavia, another region under Ottoman rule. A small group of people, lead by a
Greek, set a Greek flag in Moldavia declaring independence. The Greeks killed
between 15,000-20,000 of the 50,000 Muslims living in the Peloponnese.
From April to December of 1821, the Greeks had captured the fortresses of
Monemvasia, Navarino and Nafplio in the Peloponnese,
and Messolongi, Athens and Thebes.
On January 1st, 1822, the first formal Greek Constitution was at the first
national assembly of Epidaurus, and by its attending members. This document was a
temporary solution to achieve more order with their government and military. This
document focuses on religious and civil rights, administrative issues, and duties of the
legislature and executive.
On January 13th, 1822, Greek independence was proclaimed at Epidavros.
In March 1823, a second national assembly took place and a new
constitution was created. In addition, new members were elected for the executive
and legislative bodies. Kolokotrónis, a guerilla leader, was asked to be vice-president
and accepted.
During the end of 1823 to May1824, the first civil war broke out from
differences in ideas among the various forces united to establish Greek
Independence. The internal war was between Geórgios Kountouriótis, head of
the temporary government, and Theódoros Kolokotrónis .
In 1825, the second civil war broke out from similar causes of the first
one. This was between wealthy Peloponnesian land-owners and the wealthy
ship-owners.
In February 1825, the Ottoman and Egyptian army devastated most of
the Peloponnesian peninsula. Foreign volunteers came to aid of the Greek
troops.
During 1827, a group of British, French, and Russian ships destroyed the
Turkish-Egyptian fleet.
During 1829, according to the Treaty of Adrianople of 1829, Turkey
recognized the independence of Greece. However, Greece would have to
pay a yearly tribute to the sultan. In 1830, Greece became an officially
independent state.
Greece entered World War II on October 28th,1940, when
the Italian army invaded from Albania. The Greek army was able to
stop the invasion, thereby winning one of the first victories. The
Germans invaded Greece in April 1941, and had total control of the
mainland within a month. The Germans launched an attack on May
20, 1941 on Crete. After one day, the Germans had suffered around
4,000 casualties. After a week, the Germans took Crete. The Greek
navy lost about 20 ships. Several thousand Greek officers and
soldiers were evacuated to Egypt. Soon after the war, Greece
descended into chaos from earthquakes and broke out into civil
war.
The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May
1913. It was the Balkan League (Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, and
Montenegro) against the Ottoman Empire. The Balkan league
was made up of enough nations to make the Ottoman armies
inferior which lead to their success. The Ottomans weren’t able
to get enough Muslim men to fight because the Ottoman empire
had poor transportation networks. The Treaty of London ended
the First Balkan War on May 30, 1913. The result of the war was
division among new land and the creation of the Albanian state.
In addition, Ottoman control over Crete was withdrawn and it
became part of Greece. However, Bulgaria was dissatisfied over
the division of the land which was the catalyst leading to the
Second Balkan War.
The Second Balkan War began June 29th, 1913
and ended on August 10th, 1913. This war occurred
because Bulgaria wasn’t satisfied with the division over
Macedonia. On June 1st, 1913, Serbia and Greece
formed an alliance against Bulgaria. King Ferdinand of
Bulgaria ordered his troops to attack Serbian and
Greek forces in Macedonia which was the beginning of
the war. The Bulgarians were defeated and about 8% of
people who participated in the war died. A treaty was
signed after the war; the terms of the treaty divided up
most of Macedonia between Greece and Serbia, leaving
Bulgaria with only a small part of the land.
In 1687, the Parthenon was extensively damaged. The Venetians attacked
Athens in efforts to capture the Acropolis. The Ottoman Turks kept barrels of
gunpowder at the Acropolis. On September 26th, a the Venetians fired from the Hill of
Philopappus which blew up the central part of the building and caused the walls to
collapse. All of the pillars and statues of Greek gods had been destroyed. About three
hundred people were killed in the explosion and it caused large fires that burned until
the following day and ruined many homes. The Venetians had considered demolishing
what remained of the Parthenon along with the rest of the Acropolis to prevent future
use, but they didn’t follow through with it. The Turks had recaptured the Acropolis and
used the remains to construct a smaller mosque on that land. In 1801, the Earl of
Elgin, obtained a permit from the Sultan to make casts and drawings of the antiquities
on the Acropolis. He also collected remains and sold them to England for 35,000
euros.
•Greece is located on a peninsula in around the Mediterranean, Ionian, and
Aegean Sea. Being surrounded by water on almost all sides highly impacts the
way people lived. For example, many people made careers out of fishing and
ship building. People also use water travel for imports and exports in Greece.
•Also, the country is highly mountainous which can be beneficial for security.
The high elevations allows people in Greece to watch land below and watch for
invasions.
•Greece also faces earthquakes frequently and is one of the world's most
seismically active countries. This impacts the way buildings are built in Greece
because the foundation of the buildings need to be strong to withstand most
earthquakes. These earthquakes can also sometimes cause tsunamis which can
flood the islands and mainland.
•Some Greeks believe that someone can catch the evil eye (“Matiasma)
from someone else's jealousy or envy. Someone who caught the evil eye
usually feels bad physically and psychologically. Blue is believed to be the
color that repels the evil eye so people wear blue bracelets to protect
themselves.
•The Greek Independence Day on March 25th, 1821, celebrates Greece's
liberation from the Ottoman Empire.
•In Greece, Carnival is called “Apokries”; it consists of two weeks of feast.
It begins from the Sunday of Meat Fare and ends with the start of Lent,
called “Clean Monday”. Everyone wears costumes and parties in the streets
and bars, throwing colored confetti to each other. This custom came from
Dionysus, the god of wine and feast.
•Many Greeks are named after a religious saint and they celebrate their
naming on a given date of the year. On the “name day” of someone, his/her
friends and family visit him/her without invitation and offer small presents.
The hostess of the house offers pastries and hors d’oeuvres to the guests. In
Greece, name days are more important than birthdays.
•Many holidays or traditions originated from or were inspired by the Greek
gods.
I predict in the next thirty years Greece will still be struggling
with their economy and debt. A lot of money needs to go to repairing
buildings and other things from the frequent earthquakes that hit
Greece which takes away money that Greece could be paying back
other countries with.
I also think Greece will increase its farming and agriculture to
bring in more money to help pay for debts. Greece is a top producer
in cotton, pistachios, rice, olives, figs, almonds, tomatoes,
watermelons, and tobacco; if Greece could export more of these
grown goods, they could raise more money for the country.
In addition, because Greece is surrounded by water, they will
probably increase the amount of fishing done.
•I think I lot of people will stop believing in the
ancient Greek Gods over the next thirty years. As
time has passed, less and less people have
stopped following Greek mythology, which has a
major influence on modern and past culture.
The belief in mythology is called Hellenismos. In
early Greek history, virtually everyone in the
Greek Empire believed in the Gods; now, less
thank five-percent of the Greek population still
believes in them. This affects which traditions
people follow.