Courtesy of Ian Wilson.

About 500	BC Bronze age settlers were living in the area. Three bronze swords were found near Ballycrochan Road in 1949.
555 or 558 AD	A large monastery was founded where the Abbey now is, by St. Comgall. Two of Comgall's followers, Gall and Columbanus, carried the Christian religion to the continent of Europe.
About 700	The Antiphonary of Bangor was written, setting down all the hymns the monks sang. It was taken by the monks to Switzerland and is now in the Ambrosian Library, Milan, Italy.
About 822	The Vikings burned Bangor and murdered hundreds of monks.
1124	Malachy was appointed Abbot and built a stone church on the Abbey site. Little is known of events in Bangor from 1100-1500.
1539	King Henry VIII closed the monasteries.
1572	Fighting between the English and the Irish forces of the O'Neills of Clandeboye took place around Bangor.
1605	King James 1 gave Bangor and lands around it to a Scotsman, Sir James Hamilton. He rebuilt the Abbey, constructed the Custom House and Tower on the seafront (still there today) and was made the first Viscount Clandeboye.
1612	King James 1 made Bangor a borough, allowed to elect two M.P.'s to the Irish Parliament in Dublin.
1623	The first Presbyterian Church was established.
1689	King William III's general, the Duke of Schomberg and his army, landed at Groomsport on their way to defeat King James II's Catholic forces.
1783	George Hannay began the manufacture of cotton. Other mills followed, the main site being near where the McKee Clock now is. This industry lasted till 1856.
1798	After the rebellion against the Government, three rebels were hanged on Bangor Pier.
1800	The Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland. Bangor ceased to be a Parliamentary Borough. Pickie Pool
1841	Population is 3,116
1852	Bangor Castle (now the Town Hall) was built for Robert Edward Ward, another descendant of James Hamilton.
1864	The first Town Commissioners were elected. They later became known as Bangor Urban District Council.
1865	The railway from Belfast was opened, and the growth of Bangor as a seaside resort began.
1878	R.E. Ward's only daughter Maude married Lord Clanmorris from the west of Ireland. Lord and Lady Clanmorris's son, Barry, who was brought up in Bangor Castle, joined the Royal Navy and won the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Jutland, 1916.
1901	Population is 5,903
1914	Guns were landed at Bangor for Ulster Protestants to resist the setting up of Home Rule for Ireland.
1927	Bangor was again granted Borough status.
1936	The Tonic Cinema, largest in Ireland with 2,001 seats, opened.
1944	Many ships of the invasion fleet bound for ‘D-Day' in France assembled off Bangor Bay.
1951	Population is 22,000
1952	Bangor Castle re-opened as the new Town Hall.
1973	North Down Borough Council replaced Bangor Borough Council.
1983	The new North Pier was opened after three years' work. It was the first stage of the plan for a marina in Bangor Bay.
1991	Population is about 42,000
1992	Commencement of Pickie area improvement scheme.

Bangor Historical Society, Bangor, Co Down, Northern Ireland.