Princess: Stepping Out of the Shadows, стр. 70
1916
Mecca, under control of the Turks, falls to the Arabs during the Great Arab Revolt.
British officer T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) meets Faisal Hussein, forging a friendship.
T. E. Lawrence is assigned as the British liaison to Arab Prince Faisal Hussein.
1917
6 July
. Arab forces led by T. E. Lawrence and Abu Tayi capture the port of Aqaba from the Turks.
1918
1 October
. Prince Faisal takes control of Syria when the main Arab force enters Damascus.
Lawrence of Arabia blows up the Hejaz railway line in Saudi Arabia.
1921
At the Cairo Conference, Britain and France carve up Arabia and create Jordan and Iraq, making brothers Faisal and Abdullah kings. France is given influence over what is now Syria and Lebanon.
1923
Abdul Aziz’s son Fahd is born in Riyadh. He will one day reign as King of Saudi Arabia.
1924
Bin Saud, King of the Nejd, conquers Hussein’s Kingdom of Hejaz. He rules over Saudi Arabia, later taking Mecca and Medina.
1926
January
. Abdul Aziz is declared King of Hejaz and the Sultan of Nejd.
1927
Saudi Arabia signs the Treaty of Jeddah and becomes independent of Great Britain.
1927–28
King Abdul Aziz crushes the fanatical Islamist tribes of central Arabia.
1931
Muhammad bin Laden (who one day will be father of Osama bin Laden) emigrates to Saudi Arabia from Yemen. He works hard to establish his business, later building a close relationship with King Abdul Aziz and King Faisal.
1932
The kingdoms of Nejd and Hejaz are unified to create the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under King Abdul Aziz bin al-Sa’ud. Saudi Arabia was named after King bin al-Sa’ud, founder of the Saudi dynasty, a man who fathered forty-four sons and who continue to rule the oil-rich kingdom.
1933
Saudi Arabia gives Standard Oil of California exclusive rights to explore for oil.
1938
Standard Oil of California strikes oil at Dammam #7.
1945
14 February
. Saudi King Abdul Aziz and American President Franklin D. Roosevelt meet on a ship in the Suez Canal, where they reach an understanding whereby the US will protect the Saudi royal family in return for access to Saudi oil.
22 March
. The Arab League is formed in Cairo, Egypt. Saudi Arabia becomes a founding member of the UN and the Arab League.
1953
King Abdul Aziz, Sultana’s grandfather, dies, age seventy-seven. He is succeeded by his son, Saud.
1953–64
King Saud rules.
1962
Saudi Arabia abolishes slavery.
1964
2 November
. Faisal bin Abdul Aziz al-Sa’ud (1904–75) succeeds his older brother, Saud bin Abdul Aziz, as King of Saudi Arabia.
1964–75
King Faisal rules.
1965
King Faisal defies Islamist opposition when he introduces television and later women’s education. Riots ensue. Later senior clerics are convinced by the government that television could be used to promote the faith.
1967
6 June
. An Arab oil embargo is put into effect after the beginning of the Arab–Israeli Six Day War.
3 September
. Muhammad bin Laden, the wealthy father of Osama bin Laden, dies in a plane crash, leaving the well-being of his children to King Faisal.
1973
An embargo against Western nations is announced, lasting until 1974. Petrol prices soar from 25 cents per gallon to $1. As a result, the New York stock market falls.
1975
25 March
. King Faisal of Saudi Arabia is assassinated by his nephew.
18 June
. Saudi Prince Faisal bin Musaid is beheaded in Riyadh for killing his uncle, King Faisal. Crown Prince Khalid is declared king.
November
. Armed men and women seize the Grand Mosque in Mecca. They denounce the al-Sa’ud rulers, demanding an end to foreign ways. The radicals are led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al-Utaybi. The siege goes on until French special forces are flown to Mecca to assist. The extremists are shot and killed or captured, later to be beheaded.
1980
Saudi Arabia executes the remaining radicals for the siege of the Grand Mosque. The radicals are beheaded in various towns across the country.
1982
13 June
. King Khalid dies. He is succeeded by his half-brother, Crown Prince Fahd.
1983–2005
Prince Bandar bin Sultan al-Sa’ud, one of King Fahd’s favourite nephews, serves as Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Washington.
1985
Great Britain signs an $80 billion contract with Saudi Arabia to provide 120 fighter jets and other military equipment over a period of twenty years.
1987
31 July
. Iranian pilgrims and riot police clash in the holy city of Mecca. The Iranians are blamed for the deaths of 402 people.
1990
July
. The worst tragedy of modern times occurs at the hajj in Mecca, when 1,402 Muslim pilgrims are killed in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel.
6 November
. A group of Saudi women drive cars in the streets of Riyadh in defiance of a government ban. The protest creates enormous problems for the women drivers: they are arrested and fired from their jobs, banned from travelling and named as prostitutes. This event leads to a formal ban on driving for women.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait expel a million Yemeni workers as the government of Yemen sides with Saddam in the First Gulf War.
1991
January
. US-led forces attack the Iraqi military in Kuwait. The ground war begins between Iraq and the Coalition forces. Iraqi forces are routed from Kuwait and are no longer a danger to Saudi Arabia.
1992
King Fahd outlines an institutional structure for the country. A law is passed that allows the king to name his brothers or nephews as successors and to replace his successor at will.
1994
23 May
. 270 pilgrims are killed in a stampede in Mecca, as worshippers gather for the symbolic ritual of ‘stoning the devil’.
1995
192 people are beheaded in Saudi Arabia over the year – a record number.
1996
An ailing King Fahd cedes power to his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah.
1997
343 Muslim pilgrims die in a fire outside the holy city of Mecca. More than a thousand others are injured.
1998
150 pilgrims die at the ‘stoning of the devil’ ritual during a stampede that occurs on the last day of the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca.
1999
The Saudi Arabian government claims it will issue travel visas into the