1858-93
French conquer the area of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Re-name it French Union of Indo-China.  

1930
Ho Chi Minh founds Indochina Communist Party to resist French rule. Goes into exile in the Soviet Union and China after the Party is savagely suppressed.

1940-1
After France surrenders to Germany, Japan, Germany's ally, takes control of Indochina, ruling jointly with the Vichy French. Ho Chi Minh returns to lead resistance to the Japanese and French. Sets up the Vietminh - League for Vietnamese Independence. Though led by communists, it attracts many nationalists.

1941-5
Vietminh lead the fight against the Japanese, supported by the US, which supplies them with weapons. When France is liberated, the Japanese imprison French troops. In 1945, when the Japanese surrender after Hiroshima, the Vietminh, who are based in the north, take over Hanoi and declare the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh hopes for US support against the French. British troops arrive in Saigon from Burma. They aim to restore French colonial rule. They rearm Japanese troops and use them to drive the Vietminh out of Saigon and the south. The French re-establish colonial rule in the south. 

1960
Groups opposing Diem form the National Liberation Front to overthrow Diem and the US presence by force. Though led by communists, the NLF is an alliance of Buddhists, nationalists and peasants. Diem dubs them the Viet Cong (Vietnamese Communists) and requests US aid to fight them. Ho Chi Minh sends aid to the NLF.
 
1962-3
President Kennedy increases the number of military advisors from 800 to 16,000 and forms the 'Green Berets' special forces. Buddhist priests set fire to themselves in protest. The US decides Diem's murderous regime is too unpopular and supports an army coup in which he is shot. A month later, Kennedy is assassinated.
  
1964
President Lyndon Johnson sends another 5000 advisors. US ships patrol the coast of Vietnam to stop the North supplying the rebels by sea. While engaged in secret military activity off the coast of North Vietnam, the US claims to have come under fire. Johnson uses this subterfuge to get the 'Gulf of Tonkin' resolution through Congress. This allows him to do whatever he deems necessary to pursue the war without consulting Congress.
 
1965-67
US begins Operation Rolling Thunder, the continuous, intensive bombing of North Vietnam to destroy infrastructure and supply lines and force the North to stop aiding the NLF. Soviet Union supplies aid and weapons to the North and the North sends 14,000 PAVN (People's Army of Vietnam) troops south to help the NLF. US launches air-war in South Vietnam, designating large areas free-fire zones to bomb and napalm. First US Marine ground combat troops go ashore at Danang in March 1965. Large-scale search-and-destroy operations begin. A five-year defoliation campaign begins, spraying toxic Agent Orange to destroy ground cover. By 1967, there are 525,000 US troops in Vietnam and two million refugees. In 1967, after a succession of short-lived military governments, General Thieu becomes president of South Vietnam and remains until 1975.
  
1968
In January, the Tet Offensive begins with NLF and PAVN attacking and occupying most southern towns and cities. They occupy Hue for two months and hold the US Embassy compound in Saigon for 24 hours. The US Marine base at Khe Sanh, near the border, is besieged for 77 days. In March, a US army platoon kills more than 400 unarmed women, children and old men at My Lai. Johnson refuses General Westmoreland's request for an additional 200,000 troops. The war is costing a fortune, is increasingly unpopular and looks unwinnable. He suspends the bombing of the North to enable peace talks to begin in Paris and does not stand for re-election. Democratic Convention in Chicago is disrupted by anti-war protests.
 
1969
President Nixon begins to withdraw US ground troops under guise of 'Vietnamisation' - the South Vietnamese Army will fight the war while the US provides aid, advice and air support. Ho Chi Minh dies and is succeeded by Le Duan.
  
1970
Nixon orders the secret bombing and invasion of Cambodia, seeking NLF bases. Bombing of Cambodia continues until 1973. Congress repeals the Gulf of Tonkin resolution.
 
1972
Officially, the last US combat troops leave Vietnam in August. Nixon announces an impending peace agreement before the presidential election. After his re-election in November, he launches a massive Christmas bombing of North Vietnam to secure better terms. But the terms of the agreement signed in January 1973 are almost identical to those previously offered and rather similar to the Geneva Agreement of 1954.
  
1974
US bombers continue to destroy South Vietnam in support of the ARVN. Many US 'advisors' remain to assist and direct ARVN. Nixon resigns because of Watergate.