| Year | Date | Event |
|---|
| 1903 | | Burundi came under the control of Germany. [1] |
| 1922 | 20 July | Burundi and Rwanda were joined into the League of Nations mandate of Ruanda-Urundi, governed by Belgium. [1] |
| 1962 | 1 July | Burundi received independence from Belgium. [1] |
| 1965 | 15 January | Prime Minister Pierre Ngendandumwe was assassinated by a Rwandan Tutsi. |
| 1966 | 28 November | Michel Micombero became the first President of Burundi. |
| 1972 | 27 April | Burundi genocide (1972) : A rebellion broke out which led to a genocide against Hutus. |
| 1976 | 2 November | Jean-Baptiste Bagaza assumed the Presidency of Burundi in a bloodless coup d'état. |
| 1987 | 3 September | 1987 Burundian coup d'état : Bagaza was deposed while in Canada. [2] |
| 2 October | Pierre Buyoya was sworn in as President of Burundi. [3] |
| 1992 | March | Burundi adopted a new constitution. [4] |
| 1993 | 2 June | Burundian presidential election, 1993 : The Hutu Melchior Ndadaye won the election. |
| 21 October | Burundi Civil War : Ndadaye was assassinated by Tutsi extremists, starting a genocide against Tutsis and a civil war. [1] |
| 1994 | 5 February | Cyprien Ntaryamira took office as President of Burundi. |
| 6 April | Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira : Ntaryamira and Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana were shot down as their aircraft approached Kigali. [5] |
| 8 April | Sylvestre Ntibantunganya was named interim President. [6] |
| 25 April | An attempted military coup was averted. [6] |
| 30 September | Ntibantunganya was elected President by a new Convention of Government. [6] |
| 1995 | 11 March | Mines and Energy Minister Ernest Kabushemeye was eaten by cannibals in Bujumbura. [7] |
| 1996 | 21 July | Hutu rebels attacked a refugee camp in the country, killing more than three hundred people. [8] |
| 25 July | 1996 Burundian coup d'état : Buyoya returned to power. [9] |