BC 400 - 100: The Scythians were nomads that roamed the Steppes during this time period. At the time, gold was easily found in the rivers of Russia, and so easily gathered and worked. The Scythians, an indo-iranian people from the east, became renouned even in their own time for their elaborate gold work. Now, museums covet pieces recovered from archeological digs. Another important note is that women were often warriors as well, recieving elaborate burials as if cheiftains, and possibly the source of Greek 'amazon' legends.
Samartian Era
AD 100 - 500: The Samartian peoples were also nomads, as the Scythians before them. Many element of their cultures were the same. The Samartians were known by the Romans to be tremendous horsemen, and were often used by the Romans as cavalry troops.
Slavic Era
AD 600 - 800: The descendants of the Samartians began to shift from a nomadic herding culture to a more settled agricultural people. Rivers were important causeways for travel and trade. At this time, Russia began to develop an ethnic cultural unity.
Kievan Rus':
AD 862: Legendary founding of Kievan Rus. Up until this time, the native Slavic tribes were forming towns on waterways and warring amongst themselves. Legends in later Chronicles state that the Slavs recognized their inability to manage themselves, and called upon Rurik, a viking, to come and rule over them, to impose order. The princely rulers of Rus' are known as the Rurikid dynasty.
@ AD 903: Prince Igor I of Kiev marries Olga. Igor later died in battle and after taking her revenge in rather imaginative ways (more on this elsewhere), Olga became Regent for their son, Svyatoslav. She converted to Christianity around AD 957, later canonized.
AD 964: Grand Prince Svyatoslav I of Kiev. He began a successful campaign of expansion.
( Side note on political structure: Each city had it's own Prince, though all ostensibly owed alliegence to the Grand Prince of Kiev. )
AD 978: Grand Prince Vladimir I of Kiev, third son of Svyatoslav. Vladimir first was Prince of Novgorod, a basically hired position. After the death of Svyatoslav, the eldest son Yaropolk had the second son, Oleg, assassinated. Upon hearing that, Vladimir high-tailed it out of Novgorod to Scandinavia in 977, gathered himself an army, and came back in 980, and ousted Yaropolk.
AD 988: Vladimir is baptized in the Orthodox Church, converts Rus to Christianity, and marries Anna, daughter of Basil II, the Byzantine Emperor.
AD 1015: Vladimir I dies. 4 years of intense civil war ensues amongst his sons (legitimate and otherwise), leading to the murder of Boris and Gleb, two younger sons, who are almost instantly canonized as the first two Saints of the Russian Orthodox Church. (Vladimir is also later canonized: He is the patron of Russian Catholics, and his feast day is July 15th.)
AD 1019-1054: reign of Grand Prince Yaroslav "The Wise".
AD 1147: A tiny frontier outpost on the river Moskva is founded, called Moscow.
AD 1113-1125: Reign of Grand Prince Vladimir Monomakh. This period marks an era of artistic achievement.
AD 1156: Novgorod declares itself an independant principality.
AD 1223: Mongol raids begin.
AD 1240: The sack of Kiev by the Mongol Horde
Appanage Rus':
AD 1236: Alekander Nevskii made Prince of Novgorod. He allied politically with the Golden Horde.
AD 1242: Nevskii defeats the invading Teutonic Knights at Lake Peipus.
AD 1252: Nevskii made Grand Prince of Russia (primarily because of his alliance with the Golden Horde.)
AD 1263: Moscow, formerly a tiny outpost on the frontier, gains it's first Prince, Daniil Nevskii, son of Alekander.
AD 1325 - 1341: Reign of Ivan I of Moscow
AD 1328: The Metropolitan See is moved from Kiev to Moscow, putting the center of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow
AD 1380: The Muscovites defeat the Goldon Horde at Kulikovo.
Muscovite Russia:
AD 1359 - 1389: Reign of Dmitri Donskoi
AD 1480: Ivan III, Tsar and Autocrat of Russia. He is the first Tsar, though he was called Tsar, not crowned as Tsar.
AD 1533 - 1584: The reign of Ivan IV "The Terrible", the first to be crowned "Tsar". It should be noted that the russian word translated as "terrible" really means something closer to "inspires awe". However, that's not to say that Ivan wasn't completely unstable and somewhat mad, murdering his own heir-apparent and his wife, working his way through 7 wives (that bests that Henry fellow), and generally terrorizing his court. One story says Ivan was so angry at a courtier for not removing his hat, Ivan had the man's hat nailed to the man's head.
AD 1598 - 1605: The reign of Boris Gudunov. He tried to eliminate the Romanovs, but no such luck.
AD 1605 - 1613: Time of Troubles: a period of intense civil war. This period marked the End of Muscovite Russia. The Rurikid dynasty was effectively wiped out.
AD 1613: 16 year old Michael I Romanov is crowned Tsar of all Russia. This begins the Romanov Dynasty and the period of Imperial Russia.
