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In Tunisia, Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old fruit and vegetable seller, sets himself on fire after police confiscate his cart becahse he doesn't have a permit; he dies later from his injuries. Protests quickly spread nationwide.
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After Weeks of violent protesst, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali flees to Saudi Arabia, ending more than two decades of authoritarian rule.
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Egyptians begin mass demonstrations, similar to the ones in Tunisia. Protests center on Cairo's Tahrir Square
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Mass protests begin in Yemen, where President Ali Abdullah Saleh has ruled for more than three decades.
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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns after 18 days of protests against his rule and heads to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh
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Large-scale protests begin in Bahrain. They last for weeks, but a government crackdown and the intervention of troops from nearby Saudi Arabia eventually Suppress the demonstrations.
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In Libya, protests begin in the eastern city of Benghazi after the arrest of a human-rights activist.
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After taking control of Benghazi, Libyan rebel leaders declare themselves the country's official representative.
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Protests begin in Syria, where President Bashar Assad, and his father before him, have rulded for four decades. Protests quickly escalate, and the government ersponds with a harsh crackdown.
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The U.N. Security Council authorizes a no-fly zone over Libya. NATO airstrikes begin two days later.
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After months of protests in Yemen, President Saleh is badly injured in an explosion at the presidential compound in the capital, Sanaa. Saleh goes to Saudi Arabia for extended medical treatment, but refuses to relinquish power.
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Former Egyptian President Mubarak goes on trial while bed-ridden appearing in a Cairo courtroom in a cage for the defendants.
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Libyan rebels enter the capital, Tirpoli; longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi goes into hiding. Sporadic fighting continues for the next two months as the rebels pursue Gadhafi's dwindling band of loyalists.
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Moammar Gadhafi is killed after being seized by a mob near his hometown of Sirte.
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Tunisia holds the first elections in an Arab Spring country where an authoritarian ruler was toppled in 2011. The Islamic party Ennahda wins.
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Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh signs an agreement in Saudi Arabia to step down from power after 33 years of rule. However, he returns to Yemen, where his relatives and longtime associates continue to hold power in the deeply divided country.
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In Bahrain, a special commision that examined the government's response to an uprising says the security forces used excessive force against protesters and tortured detainees. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa promises reforms. But critics say the report and the proposed changes do not go far enough.
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Egyptians begin coting in parliamentary elections that are carried out in phases. The Muslim Brotherhod leads in the early stages of the voting
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The U.N. Estimates that 5,000 Syrians, many of them unarmed civilians, have been killed in nine months of violence.
