Yemen: Timeline
— -- From its ancient identity as home to the Queen of Sheba, to its current status as a destination for adventurous travelers, Yemen has always been more colorful and characteristic than its lack of fame attests. Here is a chronology of key events in Yemeni history.
1000 B.C.: A state centered around ancient trade routes rises. It is called Saba, most of its power is based on agricultural wealth arising from the famous dam of Ma'rib, and the trade of frankincense. The citizens mostly practice a worship of idols.
395 A.D.: The Holy Roman Emperor Theodisius makes Christianity the new state religion. Christian reluctance to trade and use frankincense, upsets Saba's trade and sends the state into decline.
570: The dam at Ma'rib breaks. Mohammad, the founder of Islam is born further north on the Arabian Peninsula, in Mecca.
575: The Persians take control of a weakened Saba.
628: The Persian governor of Yemen converts to Islam, followed by the rest of his subjects. During this time, the first Yemeni mosque is built in Sana'a — it still stands today.
897: The Zayidi dynasty takes power in the north as a strict Islamic state. It will last until 1962.
1454: The Kathirids take power in the south and remain the dominant force in the region until 1967.
1513: Portugal sets its sight on the port of Aden, but Egypt and Turkey balk, and expel them four years later. The Turkish Ottomans take power.
1636: Zayidis imams end the Ottoman occupation.
1839: The British take the port of Aden, but further colonization stops after local sheikhs sign treaties with Britain, giving themselves to British protection.
1849: The Turks attempt occupation again, and resistance develops.
1869: Suez Canal opens, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.
1905: The Turks are nearly pushed out of Yemen; a line is drawn across Arabia, with the Turks in the north and the British in the south. The dividing line is called the "Violet Line."
1918: Ottoman empire dissolves, North Yemen gains independence and is ruled by Imam Yahya.
1948: Rebels assassinate Yahya in Sana'a. His son Ahmad succeeds him.
1962: Ahmad dies, and a coup follows. Officials backed by Egypt seize power and set up the Yemen Arab Republic, or YAR. Royalists among the Kathirids revolt, fracturing the country between the north and the south.
1967: In south Yemen, Marxist guerillas start a revolt against British supremacy, prompting them to leave. The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) is formed.
1972: Border clashes between the two Yemens, ceasefire brokered by Arab League.
1986: Political rivalries between extreme Marxists and the government in the PDRY leads to civil war. Marxists win, a new government is formed.
1990: Yemen unified.
1991: Yemen opposes U.S. military action against Iraq in Gulf War.
1994: Civil war erupts again over tensions between North and South. It runs until May, but government regains control of entire country.
1997: The second round of democratic elections for the unified county are held. Islamic fundamentalists lose 13 seats.
2000: U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole is attacked by suicide bombers while in Aden. Seventeen sailors are killed.
2001: Yemeni president tells U.S. president he will join the fight against terrorism, volunteering his armed forces to go after suspected training camps and strongholds in his country.