| 674 | Building of St. Peter's Church
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| 1183 | Bishop Hugh du Puiset's charter creates the first Borough of Sunderland
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| 1346 | Thomas Menvil authorised to build ships at Hendon
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| 1346 | The first recorded shipbuilding on the River Wear was in 1346.
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| 1634 | Bishop Morton's Charter created Sunderland's first Mayor and Corporation
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| 1698 | Formation of Sunderland Company of Glassmakers
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| 1719 | Holy Trinity Sunderland Parish Church opened
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| 1793 | Philip and John Laing established a shipyard on Monkwearmouth Shore. (The oldest surviving shipbuilding firm in Sunderland when it was absorbed into Sunderland Shipbuilders Ltd.)
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| 1796 | Wearmouth Bridge opened
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| 1822 | Opening of the railway line from Hetton to Sunderland coal staithes, one of the earliest uses of locomotive power. The engineer was George Stephenson
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| 1826 | Sinking of Wearmouth Colliery
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| 1831 | In October of this year the first outbreak of cholera in the United Kingdom occurred in Sunderland - two hundred people died
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| 1832 | Sunderland became a parliamentary borough under the Reform Act, returning two members of Parliament
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| 1835/6 | Establishment of the modern Borough Council, with the first modern Mayor
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| 1850 | Opening of Sunderland South Docks by George Hudson MP
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| 1856 | Sir William Mills, (1856 – 1932) inventor of the Mills Bomb of First World War fame, was born in Sunderland
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| 1858 | The tongue of 'Big Ben' was forged at Hopper's foundry, Houghton
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| 1873 | Foundation of Sunderland Echo
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| 1881 | Sunderland Association Football Club was founded. It was based on a club known as The Teachers which had started playing in 1879
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| 1875 | A record of 64 days was set for the Australia run by the Wear built sailing vessel 'The Torrens'. Launched in 1875, the novelist Joseph Conrad served on her for a time as mate
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| 1888 | Sunderland granted County Borough status
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| 1903 | Roker Pier - the harbour's northern breakwater is 2,790 feet long. It was opened in 1903. The southern breakwater was never completed due to declining trade
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| 1909 | The then heaviest bridge in Britain was opened. The Queen Alexandra Bridge carried road and rail traffic, the railway deck remained in use for barely 12 years
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| 1923 | Police Boxes, model for the TARDIS pioneered by Chief Constable Frederick Crawley
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| 1937 | Sunderland AFC won the FA Cup
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| 1964 | Washington designated as a New Town
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| 1967 | Ryhope, Silksworth, Tunstall, East & Middle Herrington, South Hylton, part of Offerton, Castletown and Whitburn South Bents added to the County Borough of Sunderland
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| 1969 | Sunderland Technical & Art Colleges merged to form Sunderland Polytechnic (now the University of Sunderland)
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| 1970 | Opening of new Town Hall & Civic Centre by the Princess Margaret
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| 1973 | Sunderland won the FA Cup for the second time
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| 1974 | Washington, Hetton and Houghton joined the new Borough of Sunderland
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| 1984 | Nissan chose Sunderland for their new European manufacturing base
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| 1988 | Announcement of closure of the shipyards on Wearside
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| 1992 | The City of Sunderland was created a by Her Majesty The Queen on 23 March
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| 1993 | Her Majesty the Queen & His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh visit Sunderland to unveil the City's new coat of arms
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