Algeria

1963: Ahmed Ben Bella becomes president following independence from France.

1965: Houari Boumediene overthrows Ahmed Ben Bella and becomes president.

1978: Boumediene dies and Chadhli Bendjedid becomes president in early 1979. He remains in office until 1992.

1992:

1. The Islamic Salvation Front wins electoral victories in the general election.

2. The military pressures President Bendjedid to resign, a state of emergency is declared, and the Islamic Salvation Front is forced to dissolve.

3. A military council assumes authority.

4. An insurgency begins, and fighting continues throughout the 1990s.

1994: Liamine Zeroual is elected president.

1999: 'Abd al-'Aziz Bouteflika is elected president.

2011: Small uprisings take place in Algeria in response to the large uprisings taking place in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and elsewhere in the Arab world.

2014: Bouteflika becomes president for a fourth term at age 77 with 81 percent of the vote.

Egypt

1948: War between the new state of Israel and Arab nations (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq).

1952:

1. Egyptian Free Officers, led by Gamal 'Abd al-Nasser, overthrow the monarchy.

2. Muhammad Neguib serves as the first president.

1954: 'Abd al-Nasser puts Muhammad Neguib under house arrest and takes over as president.

1956: 'Abd al-Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal. Britain, France, and Israel invade Egypt. The United States and the Soviet Union intervene, and a ceasefire is signed.

1958: Syria and Egypt form a union called the United Arab Republic.

1961: The United Arab Republic dissolves when Syria withdraws from the Union.

1962: Egypt intervenes in the Yemeni Civil War to support the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen).

1967: Israel defeats Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in the Six-Day War. Israel occupies Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

1970: 'Abd al-Nasser dies; Anwar al-Sadat becomes president.

1973: Syria and Egypt declare war on Israel. Egypt uses the war to begin negotiations for a peace treaty and a return of the Sinai Peninsula.

1979: Sadat signs a peace treaty with Israel at Camp David.

1981: Sadat assassinated by Islamists. Hosni Mubarak becomes president.