1821 John Edward Taylor publishes the first Manchester Guardian on 5 May 1821 as newspaper in the liberal interest. The newspaper is published weekly on a Saturday at a price of 7d
1855 Stamp Duty tax on newspapers is abolished allowing the Guardian to publish daily, Monday to Saturday, at a reduced price of 2d
1872 Charles Prestwich Scott becomes editor of the Guardian, a post he holds for 57 years. CP Scott is a liberal thinker with strong principles "Comment is free, but facts are sacred. ...The voice of opponents no less than that of friends has a right to be heard."
1907 Following the death of John Edward Taylor's son in 1905 CP Scott buys the Guardian. He is both owner and editor
1919 On 4 July 1919 Guardian Weekly is launched to provide a compact weekly edition of the newspaper
1929 CP Scott retires as editor in favour of his son Ted
1932 Ted Scott dies in a tragic boating accident and William Percival Crozier is appointed as editor
1936 Ownership of the Guardian is transferred to a trust. The Scott Trust ensures the independence of the newspaper and continues the journalistic principles of CP Scott
1944 On WP Crozier's death, Alfred Powell Wadsworth becomes editor
1953 On 3 June 1953, the day after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, David Low's 'Morning After' cartoon appeared in the Guardian. The cartoon sparked controversy and many letters from readers, two-third of which critical asking "how low can Low get?"
1956 Alastair Hetherington becomes editor following Wadsworth's death
In contrast to the majority of the British press the Guardian criticises the Governments military action in Suez. Readership increases by 10%
1959 On 24 August 1959 the newspaper changes its title from the Manchester Guardian to the Guardian, to reflect the growing importance of national and international affairs in the newspaper
1961 To enable swifter delivery of the Guardian to southern England the newspaper begins printing in London as well as Manchester on 11 September 1961. Difficulties with the printing system earn the newspaper the nickname 'The Grauniad'
1964 The editor's office and major editorial departments relocate from Manchester to London
1965-66 Financial difficulties lead to discussion with the Times on a possible merger of the two newspapers. The Scott Trust throw out the proposal
1970 On 29 August the Guardian moves from its home in Cross Street, Manchester to new offices in nearby Deansgate. The Guardian had been written and printed from this building since 1886.
1975 Peter Preston is appointed editor
1976 The Guardian moves to its London home at 119 Farringdon Road
1983 A Foreign and Commonwealth Office clerical officer gives the Guardian documents on the movement of nuclear weapons. The Guardian is taken to court and ordered to reveal their source and Sarah Tisdall is imprisoned for six months
1988 The Guardian has a radical redesign, splitting the newspaper into two sections and introducing a new masthead. An international edition is launched in Europe
1995 Alan Rusbridger becomes editor
1997 The Guardian's investigation into conservative MP Neil Hamilton wins the Team Reporting Award at the British Press Awards and the Guardian is named Newspaper of the Year by What the Papers Say, an award it also wins in 1998 and 1999
The Guardian is the first national newspaper to appoint a readers' editor, producer of the daily Corrections and Clarifications column
1999 Guardian Unlimited network of websites is launched in January. By March 2001 GU has over 2.4 million unique users, making it the most popular UK newspaper website
2001 The Guardian wins widespread acclaim for its coverage of the events of 11th September proclaimed "bold, simple and courageous" at the British Press Awards
2002 The Newsroom, Guardian and Observer Archive and Visitor Centre, opens its doors. The centre preserves and promotes the histories and values of the newspapers through educational programmes, exhibitions and research
2003 Life, a new Thursday science and technology supplement, launched. A daily Media Business page was introduced
2004 Digital editions of the Guardian and the Observer, online replicas of the newspapers, launched. The paper also introduced a weekly tabloid edition aimed at students and distributed through university campuses across the UK
2005 The new Guardian launches, with a ground-breaking design in a mid-size format. The Guardian becomes the UK's first full-colour national newspaper, and the first UK national newspaper ever to adopt this size
2006 The Guardian wins national newspaper of the year at the British Press Awards, daily newspaper of the year at the London Press Club Awards, and the world's best-designed newspaper from the Society for News Design
2007 The Guardian and Observer digital archive is launched, the first example of a national UK newspaper making its paper archive available online via its website
2008 Guardian News & Media moves to its new home at Kings Place
2009 Guardian News & Media launches Open Platform, a service that allows partners to take the entire content of articles and statistics for free and build their own applications
2010 Guardian News & Media launches Extra a unique new membership scheme for readers
2011 The Guardian is named Newspaper of the Year at the Press Awards in April for its partnership with WikiLeaks, which produced the leaked US embassy cables. In June Guardian News & Media, reveals its plans to become a digital-first organisation, placing open journalism on the web at the heart of its strategy
2012 The Guardian launches a major new brand campaign to showcase its ground-breaking open journalism and multi-platform credentials. The TV advert illustrates the Guardian's new model of journalism through an ironic retelling of the classic fairy tale 'The Three Little Pigs'
2013 The Guardian launches a new digital edition, Guardian Australia, offering fresh and independent content from Australia and around the world
2015 Katharine Viner is appointed editor-in-chief
