1875: J. and T. Gunn open a  building supplies business in Brisbane Street, Launceston.

1891: Company involved in building the Albert Hall and Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. 

1885: Duck Reach Power Station built.

1904: Gunns saw mill on the Kings wharf destroyed by fire.

1911: The company wins the contract to build the first trams for the Launceston City Council's new tramway.

1913: Frederick Gunn became sole owner of the business in 1913.

1931: Fire destroys Gunns store in Brisbane Street but rebuilt

1932 Gunns build the tram sheds and offices in Wellington St.

1940 Gunns enters the foresetry industry with pine plantations in the North-West of the state.

1950: Gunns buys fellow construction company Hinman, Wright and Manser.

1955: Brisbane Street premises remodelled.

1960s: Gunns expands its retail operation in Brisbane and George streets.

1970s: Company has  grown into a large diversified family-owned hardware, timber and building supplies business.

In the 1980s, Gunns' administrative headquarters move to a new site in Cimitiere Street. Its home of 90 years in Brisbane Street became Yorktown Square.

It also became a public company.

1985: John Gay becomes managing director.

1986: Gunns becomes a public company effectively ending direct control of the business by the descendants of John and Thomas Gunn.

2001: Gunns buys North Forest Products for $335 million.

June, 2003: Gunns executive chairman John Gay and then Deputy Premier Paul Lennon have dinner in Hobart where the idea of a pulp mill is discussed. Mr Lennon forced to admit to the meeting under questioning by the Greens in state Parliament.

July, 2003: Gunns shares trading at $2.90.

August, 2003: Mr Lennon views pulp mills in Finland and Sweden with Mr Gay.

November, 2003: A review of the State's 1995 environmental guidelines for bleached kraft pulp mills is announced.

March, 2004: Paul Lennon becomes premier after Jim Bacon resigns due to ill-health.

July, 2004: Gunns shares trading at $3.25.

October, 2004: The Government releases its pulp mill guidelines for the Resource Planning and Development Commission to conduct a review.

2005: Gunns launches legal action against 20 conservationists, including Australian Greens Leader Senator Bob Brown. 

January, 2005: Gunns shares trading at $4.75.

February, 2005: Gunns nominates Bell Bay as its preferred site for the mill due to proximity to the port and cheaper transport costs.

December, 2005: The first of several anti-pulp mill rallies held in Launceston's Albert Hall with an estimated 2500 people voicing their concerns about the project.

January, 2006: Gunns shares trading at $3.25.

March, 2006: Mr Lennon's Government goes to the election supporting the pulp mill and is returned to power.

July, 2006: Gunns releases its draft Integrated Impact Statement and says the pulp mill will not pollute, smell or consume old-growth forest.  Gunns shares trading at $2.58.

September, 2006: About 400 organisations and individuals express an opinion on the pulp mill guidelines to the RPDC before submissions close.

October, 2006: Protesters take to the water in about 100 vessels on the Tamar River near the mill site. The Greens accuse pulp mill assessment panellist Warwick Raverty of apprehended bias.

December, 2006: RPDC delays public hearings saying  Gunns' original Integrated Impact Statement is incomplete.

January, 2007: The claim of apprehended bias in limbo until the shock resignations of RPDC chairman Julian Green and Dr Raverty. Gunns shares trading at $3.05.

February, 2007: New RPDC chairman retired judge Christopher Wright blames Gunns for most of the delays in the assessment process and says there will be no decision until November.

March, 2007: Gunns pulls out of the RPDC process saying the timeline is commercially unacceptable. Mr Lennon introduces legislation that will see the mill assessed by a consultant and Parliament voting on whether to approve it, all before August 31.

March 21: Parliament passes the alternative assessment process bill.

June, 2007: More than 10,000 people gather at Launceston's City Park then march through the streets in protest at the mill approval process.  The Wilderness Society launches a federal court challenge against the federal assessment of the mill saying it is flawed.

July, 2007: Business group Investors For The Future Of Tasmania join the Wilderness Society action.  Finnish consultancy Sweco Pic, which was paid $500,000 to assess the project, provides its report to the Government and says proposal has met 92 out of 100 guidelines.  A pro-development rally in Launceston attracts about 4000 people.Gunns shares trading at $3.50. 

August, 2007: Justice Shane Marshall rules against the Wilderness Society. Permits and conditions for the operation of the Bell Bay pulp mill are tabled in Parliament and is  passed by the Upper House by 10 votes to four and the Lower House 19 votes to four.

October, 2007: Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull and chief scientist Jim Peacock announce the mill's approval at a Sydney press conference.

November, 2007: The Kevin Rudd-lead ALP wins the federal election and Peter Garrett becomes Environment Minister.

January, 2008: Gunns shares trading at $3.59.

February 2008: State and Federal governments issue permits for pulp mill site works to start. Gunns buys Auspine for $325 million.

March, 2008: Construction of the mill scheduled to start on  August 15.

May, 2008: The Government announces a $15 million sovereign risk agreement with Gunns Ltd and Forestry Tasmania. The 20-year agreement provides compensation to Gunns Ltd if any future law disrupts the wood supply deal for the pulp mill. The ANZ Bank announce they will not be involved in financing the pulp mill. The bank did not disclose its reasons but had come under heavy criticism from conservation groups. Paul Lennon resigns as Tasmanian premier and is replaced by David Bartlett.

June, 2008: Treasurer Michael Aird reveals that Gunns asked the Government to extend the deadline for building by five months. Forestry Tasmania extends its wood supply agreements for the mill, to give Gunns until November 30 to start building. There are suggestions the Government might fund the pulp mill pipeline from Trevallyn to Bell Bay.

July, 2008: Gunns shares trading at $2.28.

August, 2008: Gunns announces a $430 million capital raising to reduce debt, some of which was incurred in its purchase Auspine.

October, 2008: Equity raising realises $335 million.

September 2008: Gunns officially seeks an extension to the Federal Government's  deadline for Commonwealth approval.

November 2008: Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says he would complete examination of  the remaining environmental modules by January 5. Forestry Tasmania agrees to extend the wood supply agreement with Gunns for another two years.

January 2009: Federal Government approves all but three of the operating modules for the pulp mill.  Environment Minister Peter Garrett gives Gunns until March, 2011, to complete hydrodynamic modelling on effluent outfall in Bass Strait.

Gunns shares trading at $1.20.

February, 2009: Gunns announces it expects to name its joint venture partner by the end of April.

May, 2009: Pulp mill supporter Ivan Dean retains his seat of Windermere in the Legislative Council  election with 55 per cent of the vote.

July, 2009: Greg L'Estrange takes over from John Gay as Gunns chief executive. Gunns shares trading at 97 cents.

September, 2009: Lawyers For Forests lose their appeal to the full bench of the Federal Court against Federal Government approval of Gunns' pulp mill. Gunns reveals that it was offering 35 voluntary redundancies due to the downturn in demand for timber products.

October, 2009: Gunns announces its $30 million retail share offer was fully subscribed.  Added to its earlier institutional offer, Gunns has raised $144.6 million through the issue of 160.6 million new shares.

November, 2009: The state government moves to extend the permit for the pulp mill until August 30, 2011.

December, 2009: Tree growers in the failed Great Southern managed investment schemes vote for Gunns to become the responsible entity. 

January, 2010: Gunns' announces the mill, now valued at $2.6 billion, would  begin operation with 100 per cent plantation timber.

April, 2010: Gunns announces a major restructuring with a new unlisted company Southern Star Corporation becoming the vehicle for the Bell Bay pulp mill. The company says it will sell about 28,000 hectares of native forest to achieve a social licence across its forestry operations. It says chairman John Gay will retire from the Gunns board before the company's  annual meeting in November and become chairman of Southern Star.  Former Tasmanian premier Robin Gray would also retire as a Gunns director but remain a director of Gunns Plantations. 

May, 2010: Director Robin Gray retires. Woolworths subsidiary John Dank and Son buys Gunns hardware and timber retailing interests for $40 million. Gunns shares hit then all-time low of 26 cents on May 25. On May 27 John Gay announces his immediate retirement after pressure from major institutional investors.  

August, 2010:  Gunns announces it has sold its Tamar Ridge winery to Victorian wine company Brown Brothers for $32.5 million.

October, 2010: Gunns pays $40 million for rival timber company Forest Enterprises Australia's new Bell Bay sawmill.

November 2010: Gunns managing director Greg L'Estrange tells the annual meeting in Launceston that trading conditions are the toughest in the company's history but that funding for the pulp mill is going through due diligence. 

December 2010: Gunns shares trading at 66 cents.

March 2011: Federal Environment Minister Tony Burk announces his decision on the last of the environmental permits for the pulp mill.

July 2011: Triabunna mill sold for $10 million to Jan Cameron and Graeme Wood

August 2011: Mills at Somerset, Deloraine and Western Junction and the two mills at Scottsdale put on the market. 

September 2011: East Coast walnut orchards sold for $23 million to Webster Pty Ltd

November 2011: Somerset and Deloraine sawmills sold to John Gay. Price unknown.   

March 2012: Gunns goes into a share trading halt with shares trading at 16 cents.

June 2012: Gunns Ltd to sell its softwood plantation estate in the Green Triangle in south-east Australia for about $107 million. Shareholders launch a class-action against the company.

July 2012: Gunns Ltd is to sell its Portland, Victoria, woodchip export plant for $61.8 million to Australian Bluegum Plantations, as well as its Launceston headquarters to Bunnings for $13 million.

August 2012: Gunns reports a net loss of more than $900 million.

September 25, 2012: Gunns announces to ASX that it will enter voluntary administration.