History
The Maltese islands are the 'open air museum of the Mediterranean', offering 7,000 years or more of history to explore with numerous cultural, historical and megalithic sites unique in the world. The islands boast prehistoric ruins older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Egypt, and are steeped in the legacy of the medieval order of the Knights of St John, who used the island as their stronghold for defending Christendom.
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Pre-History
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| 5200 B.C. |
Arrival of Man in Malta |
| 3200 B.C. |
Building of Megalithic temples |
| 2000 B.C. |
Invasion of Bronze Age peoples |
| 800 B.C. |
Phoenician colonization |
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Ancient Civilisation
|
| 900 B.C. |
The start of the iron Age |
| 480 B.C. |
Carthaginian domination |
| 218 B.C. |
Roman domination after the Punic Wars |
| 60 |
St Paul shipwrecked in Malta |
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Arabs
|
| 395 |
Byzantine domination of Malta |
| 870 |
Arabs Occupy Malta |
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Normans and the Middle Ages
|
| 1090 |
Norman’s occupation |
| 1194 |
Swabian occupation |
| 1266 |
Angevins occupation |
| 1283 |
Aragonese occupation |
| 1325 |
Establishment of a Maltese nobility |
| 1397 |
Establishment of the Universita |
| 1485 |
Death of Peter Caxaro |
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Knights of St. John
|
| 1530 |
Order of the Knights of St John arrive in Malta |
| 1561 |
Inquisition established |
| 1565 |
The Great Siege of Malta by the Ottoman Turks |
| 1566 |
The Founding of Valletta |
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French
|
| 1798 |
Napoleon Bonaparte takes Malta from the Knights |
| 1799 |
Britain takes Malta |
| 1800 |
The French surrender |
| 1802 |
Peace of Amiens |
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British
|
| 1814 |
Malta becomes a British Crown colony |
| 1914-18 |
First World War |
| 1919 |
Sette Giugno riots against British rule |
| 1921 |
Amery – Milner constitution granting self-government |
| 1939-45 |
Second World War; Malta is awarded the George Cross |
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Malta Today
|
| 1964 |
Malta Independence within the British Commonwealth |
| 1974 |
Malta becomes a Republic |
| 1979 |
Last British service leaves Malta |
| 2004 |
Malta becomes a member of the European Union |