Athens Timeline of Events

Home / Timelines / Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

Timeline of Events

490BC

9.10.490 BC

The Battle of Marathon takes places between the forces of the Persian Empire and those of Athens

338BC

8.2.338 BC

A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean.

322BC

8.7.322 BC

Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon.

86BC

3.1.86 BC

Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters Athens, removing the tyrant Aristion who was supported by troops of Mithridates VI of Pontus.

1687

9.26.1687

The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed by an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Morosini who are besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens.

9.26.1687

The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed by an explosion caused by the bombing from Venetian forces led by Morosini who are besieging the Ottoman Turks stationed in Athens.

1859

11.15.1859

The first modern revival of the Olympic Games takes place in Athens, Greece.

1863

10.30.1863

Danish Prince Wilhelm arrives in Athens to assume his throne as George I, King of the Hellenes.

1896

4.6.1896

In Athens, the opening of the first modern Olympic Games is celebrated, 1,500 years after the original games are banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I.

1901

11.8.1901

Bloody clashes take place in Athens following the translation of the Gospels into demotic Greek.

1906

4.22.1906

The 1906 Summer Olympics, not now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.

1917

6.11.1917

King Alexander assumes the throne of Greece after his father Constantine I abdicates under pressure by allied armies occupying Athens.

1941

4.23.1941

World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht.

4.27.1941

World War II: German troops enter Athens.

1944

12.3.1944

Greek Civil War: Fighting breaks out in Athens between the ELAS and government forces supported by the British Army.

1967

5.11.1967

Andreas Papandreou, Greek economist and socialist politician, is imprisoned in Athens by the Greek military junta.

1968

8.13.1968

Alexandros Panagoulis attempts to assassinate the Greek dictator Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos in Varkiza, Athens.

1976

6.27.1976

Air France Flight 139 (Tel Aviv-Athens-Paris) is hijacked en route to Paris by the PLO and redirected to Entebbe, Uganda.

1981

2.24.1981

An earthquake registering 6.7 on the Richter scale hits Athens, killing 16 people and destroying buildings in several towns west of the city.

1985

6.14.1985

TWA Flight 847 is hijacked by Hezbollah shortly after take-off from Athens, Greece.

11.23.1985

Gunmen hijack EgyptAir Flight 648 while en route from Athens to Cairo. When the plane lands in Malta, Egyptian commandos storm the hijacked jetliner, but 60 people die in the raid.

1999

9.7.1999

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake rocks Athens, rupturing a previously unknown fault, killing 143, injuring more than 500, and leaving 50,000 people homeless.

2003

4.16.2003

The Treaty of Accession is signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.