| Year | Description |
|---|---|
| 7000 BC | Evidence of Mesolithic Hunter / Gatherers |
| 3500 BC | Neolithic Settlement |
| 400 BC – 400 AD | Iron Age – building of the Brochs |
| c. 400-900 AD | Pictish Period |
| c800-850 | Arrival of first Norse settlers (era of the Vikings starts) |
| 1299 | First surviving paper/parchment written document in Shetland history |
| 1469 | Impignoration by Denmark to Scotland |
| 1581 | Earl Robert Stewart created Earl of Orkney, Lord of Shetland |
| 1625 | First mention of Lerwick -7 Nov 1625 Act anent demolishing the houses in Lerwick |
| 07 Jan 1696 | Tingwall - Earliest surviving entry in a Parish Register for Shetland |
| 1711 | Last of Hanseatic Traders rise of Shetland merchants, transfer of capital from Scalloway to Lerwick |
| 1700s | Norn language dying out, by 1750 used only by older people |
| c. 1750 | Start of Shetland’s connection with the Greenland whaling, English ships stopping in Shetland for victualling and to complete their crews |
| 1793-1815 | French Wars. 3,200 Shetland men in the Royal Navy, many pressed and also many in the army |
| 1804 | Famine. The government arranged meal distribution |
| 1832 | Fishing Disaster, 17 boats and 105 men lost |
| 1861 | Peak census population in Shetland at 31,670 |
| 1881 | Gloup fishing disaster, 10 boats and 56 fishermen lost |
| c1895 | Start of herring fishing boom which peaked in 1905 |
| 1900 | Delting disaster, 4 boats and 22 men lost |
| c. 1910 | Involvement in the Antarctic Whaling. Many Shetland men employed, continued to 1950s |
| 1914-1918 | WW1 Shetlanders served in the armed forces and many were in the Merchant Marine |
| 1933 | First plane to land in Shetland – at Sumburgh |
| 1936 | Sumburgh laid out as an airport |
| 1939-1945 | WW2 Shetlanders again served in the armed forces and Merchant Navy |
| 1960 | First Hamefarin. Nearly 80 Shetland emigres returned, mainly from New Zealand |
| 1964 | TV comes to Shetland when the Bressay mast becomes operational (BBC only) |
| 1971 | Brent oilfield discovered off Shetland |
| 1981 | Sullom Voe Oil Terminal opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II |
| 1991 | Foundation of Shetland FHS |
| 1999 | First visit of the Tall Ships Race |
| 2005 | Shetland hosted the Island Games |
© Smirk