| Year | Event | |
| 43 | Romans invade Britain | |
| 80s | Roman soldiers occupied The Lawe | |
| 410 | Romans officially leave Britain | |
| 647 | St Hild’s Nunnery founded | |
| 1245 | The Prior and Convent of Durham acquired South Shields, anciently written “Le Sheels” | |
| 1306 | North and South Shields reported jointly to lade and victual 100 to 200 ships. | |
| 1335 | Edward I forbade Newcastle to hinder ships loading at Shields. | |
| 1499 | Iron saltpans existed near St. Hild’s Church. | |
| 1529 | Newcastle obtained by Act of Parliament a monopoly of the trade and navigation of the Tyne. | |
| 1639 | Shields Society of Saltmakers granted a monopoly. | |
| 1644 | South Shields Fort captured by the Scots and recaptured by Royalists in June. | |
| 1650 | Glassworks opened in South Shields. | |
| 1720 | Robert Wallis began the first ship-building yard in South Shields. | |
| 1720 | John Cookson established the first chemical works (at Alum House Ham) in South Shields. | |
| 1751 | First whaler The Swallow left Shields harbour. | |
| 1756 | First ballast wharf in South Shields (Cookson’s Quay licensed. | |
| 1768 | The High Dock (H. S. Edwards) opened. | |
| 1768 | Dean and Chapter of Durham bought eight acres of St. Hild’s Glebe. | |
| 1768 | The building of old Town Hall, Market Place and adjoining streets began. | |
| 1769 | First charity school opened. | |
| 1770 | First weekly market held, | |
| 1771 | First half-yearly fair held. | |
| 1788 | Act of Parliament to supply the town with water. | |
| 1789 | Adventure wrecked on Shields sands. | |
| 1789 | South Shields Shipowners’ Committee offered reward for best design of lifeboat. | |
| 1789 | Plans submitted by William Wouldhave and later Henry Greathead built the first lifeboat. | |
| 1790 | Lifeboat first used for saving life from shipwreck. | |
| 1792 | Old theatre in Wellington Street erected. | |
| 1795 | South Shields Shipwrights Association (first shipbuilders’ trade union) formed. | |
| 1796 | South Shields Corps of Loyal Volunteers raised. | |
| 1803 | Great Press Gang raid in South Shields. | |
| 1806 | Mail coach began between South Shields and York. | |
| 1810 | Templetown Colliery opened. | |
| 1812 | Last “Press” for seamen in South Shields. | |
| 1814 | First steam packet Perseverance between South Shields and Newcastle. | |
| 1816 | Mill Dam Lake filled up. | |
| 1821 | Wm. Wouldhave, lifeboat inventor, died aged 73. | |
| 1824 | Gas Company formed and gas first supplied to shops and houses. | |
| 1825 | St. Hilda Colliery opened. | |
| 1826 | James Mather invented ships’ lifeboats to be carried aboard ship. | |
| 1829 | First South Shields Improvement Act obtained. | |
| 1829 | Street lamps first lit by gas. | |
| 1832 | Reform Bill creating South Shields as a Parliamentary Borough first received Royal Assent. | |
| 1832 | First Parliamentary election. Robert Ingham M.P. | |
| 1834 | Stanhope and Tyne railway opened to South Shields. | |
| 1837 | Cookson’s works began the manufacture of sheet glass. | |
| 1837 | Marine School founded by Dr. Winterbottom. | |
| 1839 | Shields-Monkwearmouth railway opened. | |
| 1839 | First iron ship built on the Tyne, tugboat Star, launched from T D. Marshall’s yard at South Shields. | |
| 1839 | Gateshead to South Shields railway open. | |
| 1839 | Explosion at St. Hilda Colliery. 50 killed. | |
| 1839 | South Shields Committee for prevention explosions in coal mines formed. | |
| 1839 | Chamber of Commerce established. | |
| 1845 | Waterloo Vale Police Buildings opened. | |
| 1849 | Construction of Tyne Dock started. | |
| 1849 | The Shields Gazette first published. | |
| 1849 | Lifeboat Providence capsized. 20 lives lost. | |
| 1850 | Town’s meeting for a Charter of Incorporation. | |
| 1850 | First Working Men’s Institute in England established in South Shields. | |
| 1850 | Tyne Improvement Act. | |
| 1850 | First Municipal Election of Town Council. Thomas Salmon appointed Town Clerk | |
| 1852 | Sunderland and South Shields Water Company formed. | |
| 1854 | Burial Board formed. | |
| 1854 | Foundation Stones of North and South Pier. | |
| 1854 | Pendulum experiments at Harton Colliery to determine the weight of the earth. | |
| 1859 | Tyne Dock opened. | |
| 1864 | Customs House Buildings, Corporation Quay opened. | |
| 1865 | South Shields created a separate port. | |
| 1869 | Marine School inaugurated. | |
| 1873 | Ingham infirmary opened. | |
| 1873 | Public Library opened. | |
| 1875 | Roman station at The Lawe excavated. | |
| 1876 | Museum opened at Public Library. | |
| 1879 | New railway station in Mile End Road. | |
| 1883 | Deans Isolation Hospital opened. | |
| 1883 | South Shields Horse Trams commenced. | |
| 1885 | Boys’ High School opened. | |
| 1887 | Ecclesiastical Commissioners presented site of North and South Marine Parks to the town. | |
| 1890 | Marine Parks opened. | |
| 1893 | Court Buildings in Keppel Street opened. | |
| 1896 | Electric light first used for street lighting. Electricity works inaugurated September 1. | |
| 1900 | Jubilee of borough celebrated with civic banquet and presentation of Mayoral badge. | |
| 1905 | Foundation stone of Town Hall laid. | |
| 1906 | Corporation Electric tramways commenced. | |
| 1910 | Last meeting of Town Council in the old Town Hall, Market Place. | |
| 1910 | Cottage Homes for poor children opened at Cleadon. | |
| 1910 | New Town Hall opened in Westoe Road. | |
| 1915 | Zeppelin raid. Five bombs fell in Shields. | |
| 1915 | Pt. H. H. Robson, V.C., made Freeman. | |
| 1917 | King George V. and Queen Mary visited Borough. Town Council bought Cleadon Park Estate. | |
| 1920 | Foundation stone of Cleadon Park Housing Estate. | |
| 1921 | Cleadon Park Sanatorium opened. | |
| 1921 | South Shields Corporation Act, including Harton and Cleadon estate in the borough, passed. | |
| 1922 | Ald. Robert Readhead presented Readhead Park to the town. Opened May 18, 1923. | |
| 1925 | Marsden Band won 1,000 guineas trophy. | |
| 1926 | St. Hilda Colliery Band won 1,000 guineas trophy for fifth time. | |
| 1927 | South Foreshore promenade opened. | |
| 1929 | Brinkburn Recreation ground bought by Town Council. | |
| 1929 | New Coast Road to Whitburn opened. | |
| 1930 | Board of Guardians ceased to exist. | |
| 1934 | Harbour Drive, North Foreshore, opened. | |
| 1935 | South Shields obtained powers from Parliament to convert electric tramways to trolley buses. | |
| 1935 | Riverside development scheme inaugurated. | |
| 1935 | New housing schemes started. | |
| 1936 | Part of South Shields Rural District towards Marsden Bay added to the borough. | |
| 1936 | New High School at Harton opened. | |
| 1936 | Trolley bus service inaugurated. | |
| 1937 | Municipal Clinic opened. | |
| 1937 | Junior Instruction Centre for Children opened. | |
| 1939 | WORLD-WAR II starts. | |
| 1941 | Considerable damage to Market Place and other districts. | |
| 1945 | World War II ends. South Shields had 737 air raid casualties, including 159 killed. | |
| 1940 | Lieut. R. W. Annand, V.C., given Freedom of Borough. | |
| 1946 | Plans for 2,000 post-war houses. | |
| 1947 | Pits nationalised. | |
| 1947 | First of new factories under North East Development Plan on Bede Estate in production. | |
| 1948 | New Westoe pit begun. NHS started 5th July. | |
| 1948 | Nearly 2,000 houses completed and plans for 3,000 more made. | |
| 1948 | Biggest ship built at South Shields, (8,200 ton cargo liner Armanistan) launched at Readheads. | |
| 1949 | New clothing factory to employ 1,000 eventually completed at South Shields. | |
| 1949 | Queen Victoria statue removed to make way for Town Hall forecourt improvement. | |
| 1949 | Pier Pavilion theatre opened. | |
| 1964 | Marine and Technical College opened by Prince Phillip | |
| 1965 | John Reid Road opened 27 April 1965 | |
| 1972 | Al Azhar Mosque built | |
| 1974 | South Tyneside Council formed, including Jarrow, Hebburn and Boldon. | |
| 1977 | Muhammad Ali opens Al Azhar Mosque 20 July. | |
| 1984 | South Shields Metro opens | |
| 1993 | Westoe Pit closes | |
| 1994 | Westoe Pit demolished | |
| 1996 | Marsden Rock partially collapses | |
| 2016 | The Word officially opens on 19th October. |
Sources:
The South Shields Centenary 1850 to 1950 (which was mainly from G B Hodgson, Borough of South Shields)
The Millenium Remembered