About 700,000 years ago, Beijing homo erectus appeared in Beijing.
In about 1027 BC, the King of Zhou conferred Yan — the area surrounding today"s Beijing —as a fief to the Duke of Zhao. The first city appeared in Beijing.
In 226 BC, the Duke of Qin conquered the city of Ji (today"s Beijing) and annexed the Dukedom of Yan.
In AD 756, An Lushan, who rebelled against the Tang Dynasty, proclaimed himself Emperor of Great Yan.
In AD 350 ,the Former Yan Dynasty conquered the city of Ji and made it its capital.
In AD 911, Liu Shouguang proclaimed himself Emperor of the Great North and took Ji as the capital.
In AD 938, Liao Dynasty renamed Youzhou Prefecture (today"s Beijing) as its Southern Capital (also a secondary capital).
In 1153, Emperor Hai l in of J in Dynasty moved the capital to Yanjing (today"s Beijing) and changed the name to Zhongdu (Middle Capital).
In 1215, Mongolian troops captured the Middle Capital.
In 1272, Yuan Dynasty changed the Middle Capital to Dadu (Grand Capital), and made it the national capital.
In 1368, Ming Dynasty troops conquered Dadu and renamed it Beiping Prefecture.
In 1403, Emperor Yongle of Ming Dynasty named Beiping as "Beijing" (Northern Capital, also known as Peking).
In 1406, Emperor Yongle issued the decree to move the capital to Beijing.
In 1407, constructions of palaces, temples and other architectures began.
In 1421, the capital of Ming Dynasty formally moved to Beijing from Nanjing of Jiangsu Province.
In 1564, the outer city of Beijing was completed.
In 1644, Qing Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing.
In 1860, the British and French troops invaded Beijing and burned down Yuanmingyuan, the imperial garden near the Summer Palace.
In 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing.
In 1912, Emperor Xuantong of Qing Dynasty abdicated, marking the end of the Qing Dynasty.
In 1949, the People"s Republic of China was founded with Beijing as its capital.