The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Derby, England.

Prior to 18th century

• 9thC. – Danes take town (approximate date).^[1]
• 917
  • Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians wins sweeping conquests to oust the Danes.^[2]
  • Market active.^[3]
• 1160 – Derby School established (approximate date).
• 1206 - First extant charter granted to Derby.^[2]
• 1229
  • A second charter granted by Henry III.^[2]
  • Derby fair active.^[3]
• 1294 – Parliamentary representation begins.^[4]
• 1337 - Edward III. on the petition of the burgesses grants them two bailiffs.^[2]
• 1530 – All Saints' Church tower built.
• 1592 – Plague.^[5]
• 1611 - Derby incorporated by James I.
• 1638 – Henry Mellor becomes mayor.
• 1660 – County Hall built.^[4]
• 1665 – Plague.
• 1675 – Derby Company of Mercers formed.^[6]
• 1696 – Osmaston Hall built.

18th century

• 1717 - Silk “throwing” or spinning introduced by John Lombe.^[2]
• 1721 – Lombe's Mill built.
• 1726 – Derby Postman newspaper begins publication.^[7]
• 1731 – Town Hall built (approximate date).^[8]
• 1732 – Derby Mercury newspaper begins publication.^[9]
• 1735 – 9 July: Samuel Johnson marries at St Werburgh's Church.^[10]
• 1745
  • 4 December: Jacobite army arrives.
  • 5 December: Jacobites meet at Exeter House and decide that Bonnie Prince Charlie, the young Pretender should return to Scotland instead of going on to London.^[2]
• 1750
  • Derby Porcelain Company in business.^[11]
  • Markeaton Hall built (approximate date).
  • Manufacture of hosiery profited by the inventions of Jedediah Strutt.^[2]
• 1756 – County prison built in Nun's Green.^[4]
• 1772 – New Jerusalem Chapel built.^[4]
• 1773 – Theatre built.^[8]
• 1774 – Assembly room built.^[8]
• 1783 – Derby Philosophical Society founded.^[5]
• 1796 – Derby Canal constructed.

19th century

• 1802 – General Baptist Chapel built.^[4]
• 1805 – King Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel built.^[4]
• 1808
  • Derby Literary and Philosophical Society established.^[8]
  • Friends' Meeting House built.^[4]
• 1809 – Cox and Co. shot mill built.^[1]
• 1810 – Infirmary built.^[8]
• 1811
  • Permanent Library established.^[7]
  • Population: 13,043.^[8]
• 1817 – Derby Choral Society established.^[7]
• 1820 – Swedenborgian Chapel built.^[7]
• 1823 – Derby Reporter newspaper begins publication.^[9]
• 1824 – New Connexion Chapel built.^[4]
• 1825 – Mechanics' Institution established.^[7]
• 1828
  • Town Hall rebuilt.^[4]
  • St. John's Church opens.^[4]
• 1832 – Town and County Library established.^[7]
• 1833 – Labour strike.^[5]
• 1835 – Joseph Strutt elected mayor.
• 1836
  • Police force^[4] and Derby Town and County Museum and Natural History Society established.
  • Trinity Church consecrated.^[4]
• 1837 – Mechanics' Hall opens.^[7]
• 1839
  • May: The founding companies of the Midland Railway begin operating.^[10]
  • Derby Exhibition held.
  • St Mary's Church built.
• 1840
  • Derby railway station, Derby Arboretum,^[7] and Christ Church^[4] open.
  • Athenaeum built (approximate date).
• 1841
  • Derby Baptist Chapel, St Mary's Gate opens
• 1842 – Arboretum Festival begins.^[12]
• 1843
  • General Cemetery^[4] and Vernon Street Prison^{[citation needed]} in operation.
  • Primitive Methodist Chapel built.^[4]
  • Agricultural Show held.^[13]
• 1844 – Midland Railway company formed.^[13][14]
• 1846 – St Alkmund's Church built.
• 1850 – Derby Co-operative Society established.^[15]
• 1856 – John Smith clockmaker in business.
• 1862 – Corn Exchange opens.^[13]
• 1863 – County Cricket Ground established.
• 1866 – Market hall opens.^[5]
• 1870 – Derbyshire County Cricket Club formed.
• 1878 – April: Great Northern Railway opens its Derbyshire extension through Friargate railway station.^[10]
• 1879
  • Derby Free Library and Museum opens.
  • Derby Daily Telegraph and Reporter begins publication.^[16]
• 1882 – Art gallery opens.^[10]
• 1884 - Derby County F.C. established as an offshoot of Derbyshire County Cricket Club
• 1886 – 6 May: Grand Theatre burns down.^[10]
• 1887 – Derby Sketching Club formed.
• 1888 - Derby becomes a County Borough
• 1891 - Population: 94,146.^[2]
• 1895
  • Midland Railway Institute built.^[13]
  • Derby County move to play at the Baseball Ground
• 1899 – Derby Technical College founded.^[13]

20th century

• 1901 - Population: 114,848. ^[2]
• 1902 – Derby Municipal Secondary School for Boys opens.
• 1908 – Rolls-Royce Limited headquartered in Derby on Nightingale Road.^[13]
• 1910
  • Victoria Electric Theatre opens.^[17]
  • Cosmopolitan Public Hall built.^[17]
• 1918 – British Cellulose and Chemical Manufacturing Company plant built.
• 1927 - Derby Cathedral established (formerly All Saints Church) for the newly created Bishop of Derby
• 1930 – Bemrose School opens.
• 1971
  • Rolls-Royce Limited enters receivership before being nationalized ^[18]
  • BBC Radio Derby begins broadcasting.
• 1972 - Derby County are Football League Champions for the 1971-72 season
• 1974 – Derby Industrial Museum opens.
• 1975
  • Derby Playhouse opens.
  • Eagle Centre shopping centre in business.
  • Derby County are League Champions again
• 1977 - Derby is awarded City status as part of the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II^[19]
• 1981 - Social unrest.^[20][21]
• 1988 – Pickford's House Museum of Georgian Life and Costume established.
• 1992
  • University of Derby established.
  • Derby Heritage Centre in business.
• 1995 – Derby Grammar School founded.
• 1997 – Pride Park Stadium opens.
• 1998 – Bronze Age Hanson Log Boat discovered near town.

21st century

• 2007 – Saint Alkmund's Way Footbridge opens.
• 2009 – Cathedral Green Footbridge opens.
• 2011 – Population: 248,700.
• 2012
  • 11 May: Allenton house fire.