1807 - First written record of general melancholy being referred to as 'The Blues' - Washington Irving.

1820s - Many Africans who had been enslaved by the USA for the profits of the few convert to Christianity. Christian Hymns and themes are mixed with traditional African music. These songs become known as spirituals.

1850s - Slaves in the fields begin to use the now famous call and holler songs to maintain morale under horrific working conditions.

1861 - The American civil war begins.

1865 - Congress passes the 13th amendment to have slavery abolished - too late for too many.

1870s - African-american music begins to focus its theme on 'free' life.

1880s - Blues music continues to develop from its routes and the guitar (crafted or improvised using old cigar boxes)is fast becoming the instrument of choice as traditional African instruments become scarcer.

1890s - Many former slaves and their offspring travel along the Mississipi in search of work. New found freedom is almost as harsh as slavery in a country that is institutionally racially prejudiced. The migrants take the blues along these waterways with them.

1903 - W.C. Handy - an established black music publisher recalls hearing the slide blues in Tutweiler station on the mississipi railroad. This is commonly acknowledged as the true birth date of blues music.

1912 - W.C. Handy is the first to publish a piece of music with the word 'blues' in it.

1912 - Dallas Blues by Hart Wind becomes the first known utterance of the word blues in music.

1920s - Mamie Smith makes the first ever blues recordings. Alan and John Lomax begin to make their famours blues field recordings for the library of congress.

1930s - Blues musicians migrate away from the rural south to urban areas and cities further north using both road and rail.

1930s - The legend of Robert Johnson is born when it is said he sold his soul to the Devil at the junction of highway 49 and highway 61 in exchange for supernatural musical abilities. In truth he probably just practiced really hard.

1941 - Alex Lomax records Muddy Waters at a plantation while making his Library of Congress recordings.

1943 - Muddy Waters moves from the fields and country to Chicago taking the rural blues to the heart of the big city.

1948 - John Lee Hooker records Boogie Chillen.

1950s - Big Bill Broonzy, Willie Dixon, and Muddy Waters travel to Britain to perform the blues to a new and ever appreciative audience from across the pond.

1961 - Columbia records release sections of early Robert Johnson recordings on LP record. Unlike anything they've heard before this inspires many youngsters to take up playing blues guitar.

1962 - Jimi Hendrix takes the decision to concentrate on building a musical career for himself.

1963 - Mississippi John Hurt, previously assumed dead for decades, is discovered playing the blues in a very low key setting. He is soon taken on a 'proper' tour to play his music.

1963 - Eric Clapton and the Yardbirds record an album of classic blues numbers as the British Blues Explosion begins to take hold.

1964 - The rolling stones release their first vinyl LP recording.

1965 - The Butterfield Blues Band release their first LP recording. They also appear alongside Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival.

1965 - Bob Dylan releases Highway 61 revisited.

1966 - Eric Clapton joins John Mayall's Bluesbreakers briefly. He then leaves to form Cream with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

1967 - Jimi Hendrix releases 'Are You Experienced?'. Shocking some and blowing the minds of many.

1968 - The Allman Brother's band is formed.

1969 - Janis Joplin records her epic album 'I Got Them Old Kozmic Blues Again Mama.'

1970 - The Doors release Morrison Motel featuring the awesome 'Roadhouse Blues'.

1971 - Peter Green features on B.B.King's 'Live In London' sessions.

1970s - Many old blues masters continues to tour but blues loses much of its 1960s popularity to the emerging scenes of progressive rock, heavy metal, punk, and disco.

1983 - Stevie Ray Vaughan (often know simply as SRV) releases 'Texas Flood'. Its success takes many record companies by surprise. There ensues a substantial revival in interest in blues music.

1993 - PJ Harvey records a blistering version of Bob Dylan's Highway 61 revisited. It establishes the blues firmly into the agenda of alternative rock bands, many of whom including Nirvana, had been quoting the likes of Leadbelly as major influences.

1997 - Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart wins the W.C.Handy award for best new artist.

2000 - Tom Waits receives a grammy for his 'Mule Variations'. Best Contemporary Folk Album.

2003 - Ten years after his death, 'Talkin' Blues' with the great Albert Collins is released containing a previously unheard interview from 1978 along with live classics such as 'Born Under A Bad Sign'.

2003 - Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart wins a grammy for his incredible and earthy album 'Down In The Alley'.

2003 - Commonly acknowledged as the 100th anniversary of Blues Music.

2004 - The Blues Explosion release their alternative blues rock album 'Damage'. The White Stripes eccentric electric blues is snowballing in popularity.

2005 - It is the fiftieth anniversary of the release of Bo Diddley's I'm a Man - he is still playing and planning another tour.

2007 - 71 year old blues legend Buddy Guy, five times a grammy winner, goes on tour again.

- Blues music has never enjoyed such worldwide popularity and threatens to bring the world together in a way no dogmatic religion has ever managed.