The following is a list by date of acts and failed attempts that can be considered terrorism.

Note: there is no single official definition of terrorism in common use. Events listed here are commonly called terrorism, or meet some of the commonly used parts of the definition.

17th century
 1605: Failed Gunpowder Plot to blow up English Parliament while King James I of England was there.

19th century
 1856, 1858, 1859: Attacks by John Brown in his fight against slavery, which now would mainly not be considered terrorism.
 1865 – 1882: Jesse James and his gang attack "Northern" railroads and banks in a personal continuation of the American Civil War
 1881: Tzar Alexander II of Russia is assassinated (killed) by a "People's Will" (Narodnaya volya) terrorist.
 1881 – 1884: Waves of pogroms against the Jews sweep southern Russia. The word pogrom—meaning "destructive, often murderous riot"—becomes known internationally.
 1886: Bomb at Haymarket Square, Chicago during a labor rally kills 12.

1910s–1960s
 1910: A bomb at the Los Angeles Times newspaper building in Los Angeles, California killed 21 workers.
 1911: Siege of Sidney Street, East London.
 1914: Assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, technically starts World War I.
 1920: Jerusalem pogrom of April 1920 incited by Haj Amin Al-Husseini (later the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem).
 1920: Wall Street Bombing - A bomb exploded on Wall Street in New York City, killing 40 people and wounding 300 others.
 1929: The ancient Jewish community of Hebron is destroyed in the Hebron massacre. [1]
 1946: Bombing of King David Hotel, the British Army HQ, by the right-wing Zionist terrorist group Irgun.
 1963: 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. A member of the Ku Klux Klan bombed a Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four girls.
 1966: Ulster Volunteer Force declares war on the then-quiet IRA; June 26 engage in 3 sectarian murders
 1967: Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian, assassinates Robert F. Kennendy in Los Angeles, California
 1969, 12 December: Piazza Fontana bombing - A bomb in a bank killed 17 people in Milan, Italy.

1970s
 1970: October Crisis (Quebec): FLQ murder of Pierre Laporte, kidnapping of James Cross
 1970: Nahariya/Avivim school bus attack by Palestinian PLO terrorists.
 1971, 4 December: McGurk's Bar bombing: UVF bomb in Belfast's North Queen Street kills 15 people.
 1972: Lod Airport massacre by the Japanese Red Army terrorists.
 1972: Munich massacre by Black September.
 1972: Bloody Friday nine are killed and many injured as Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) set off 22 bombs.
 1973, 20 December: ETA Basque terrorist group kills Spanish Prime Minister Admiral Carrero Blanco by bombing his car in Madrid, one more person dead.
 1974: Guildford pub bombings by the IRA leaves 5 dead and 44 injured.
 1974: Birmingham pub bombings by the IRA kill 21; 182 people are injured.
 1974: Kiryat Shmona massacre at an apartment building by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Palestinian terrorists
 1974: Maalot massacre at the Maalot High School in Northern Israel by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Palestinian terrorists
 1974: Dublin and Monaghan bombings by the UVF, who detonate 3 car bombs in Dublin and one in Monaghan; 33 dead - the deadliest toll of any one day in the Troubles.
 1974: TWA Flight 841
 1974, 13 September: ETA Basque terrorist group bombs the "Rolando" cafeteria in Madrid, kills 12.
 1975: Tel Aviv Savoy Hotel guest attacked by Palestinian PLO terrorists
 1975, 31 July: Three members of Ireland's popular Miami Showband killed in UVF gun attack.
 1976: Hijacking of Air France Flight 139 (Tel-Aviv-Paris) and the following Operation Entebbe
 1976: Orlando Letelier assassinated in Washington by Chilean government
 1976: 73 died when a Cubana aircraft was bombed while flying from Barbados to Havana.
 1977, 7 April: Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver were shot by two Red Army Faction members.
 1977, 30 July: Jürgen Ponto, then head of the Dresdner Bank, was shot and killed by the Red Army Faction in a kidnapping failed.
 1977, 5 September: Hanns Martin Schleyer was kidnapped by the Red Army Faction. He was murdered by the Red Army Faction on October 19 1977.
 1977, 13 October: Lufthansa flight LH 181 was kidnapped by a group of four Arabs around the leader "Captain Martyr Mahmud".
 1978 – 1995: The Unabomber kills three and injures 29 in a string of anti-technology bombings
 1978: A bomb is detonated outside the CHOGM meeting in Sydney Australia, killing 2 people. 3 Ananda Marga members are later arrested and jailed for the attack. They were then proven innocent of any crime by the supreme court.
 1978: Palestinian Fatah terrorists on the Tel Aviv - Haifa highway kill 34 Israelis.
 1979, 27 August: Lord Mountbatten and three others are killed by IRA bomb on board his boat off Mullaghmore. The same day two IRA bombs kill 18 British Soldiers near Warrenpoint.
 1979, 29 July: ETA Basque terrorist group bombs two railway stations in Madrid, kills 7.

1980s
 1980: Oscar Romero assassinated by death squads in El Salvador
 1980: Four United States nuns killed by death squads in El Salvador
 1980: December U.S. trained Salvadoran Army unit executes 800 civilians at the village of El Mozote
 1980: Bologna massacre: neo-fascist bomb kills 85 people in Bologna railway station
 1980: Iranian Embassy siege: Iraqi agents took over the Iranian Embassy in London, gaining hostages. After a number of days, one hostage was killed by the Iraqis, and the Special Air Service assaulted the building to rescue the remaining hostages. One hostage died during the assault.
 1982: Two bombs in Hyde Park and Regent's Park, London by the IRA kill 11 people. Seven horses are also killed.
 1983: United States Embassy Bombing in Beirut, Lebanon kills 63.
 1983, 20 May: Church Street bombing in Pretoria, South Africa by Umkhonto we Sizwe, killing 19 people.
 1983: 1983 Beirut barracks bombing in Beirut kills 241 U.S. Marines.
 1983: Harrods bomb by the IRA. Six are killed (including three police officers) and 90 wounded during Christmas shopping at the West London department store.
 1983: Gulf Air Flight 771
 1984: IRA bomb in the Grand Hotel Brighton 5 are killed in an attempt to kill members of the British cabinet.
 1985: TWA Flight 847 hijacking
 1985: Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacking by Palestinian Liberation Front
 1985: IRA mortar attack kills nine soldiers in Newry
 1985: Air India flight 182 is blown up by a bomb put on board the flight from Canada by Sikh nationalists. All 329 passengers are killed. The single most deadly terrorist attack prior to September 11, 2001.
 1985: EgyptAir Flight 648 hijacked by Abu Nidal group, flown to Malta, where Egyptian commandos storm plane; 60 are killed by gunfire and explosions.
 1985: Rome and Vienna Airport attacks
 1985: Investigators associated with the WHO reported that U.S.-funded Contras repeatedly destroyed health-care facilities and murdered health-care workers in Nicaraqua.
 1986: New Year's Eve fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, claimed 97 lives, mainly in the casino area. Fire set by 3 hotel workers, trying to make tourists stay away from Puerto Rico as a protest to their working wages.
 1986: TWA Flight 840 bombed on approach to Athens airport; 4 Americans, including an infant, are killed.
 1986, 15 July: ETA Basque terrorist group bombs a Guardia Civil police truck, kills 12.
 1986: Berlin discotheque bombing On April 6, the La Belle discotheque, a known hangout for U.S. soldiers, was bombed, killing 3 and injuring 230 people, for which Libya is held responsible.
 1986: Pan Am Flight 73 is hijacked; 22 people die when plane is stormed in Karachi, Pakistan.
 1987, 8 November: Enniskillen bombing. Remembrance Day parade in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh is bombed by the IRA and 11 are killed and 63 injured
 1987, 19 June: Hipercor bombing: ETA Basque terrorist group bomb in Hipercor mall's parking in Barcelona, kills 21; 45 injured.
 1987: KAL Flight 858 bombed by North Korea.
 1987, 11 December: ETA Basque separatist terrorist group bomb a Guardia Civil police bedrooms in Zaragoza, kills 11, 40 injured.
 1988, 21 December: Pan Am Flight 103. A bomb onboard exploded, causing the plane to crash, killing all 259 people on the plane and 11 on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland.
 1989: Deal barracks bombing: eleven Royal Marines bandsmen are killed and 22 injured when their barracks in Deal, Kent are bombed by the IRA.
 1989: UTA Flight UT-772
 1989: Avianca Flight 203 bombed over Colombia

1990s
 1990: A series of car bombings directed by the IRA in Northern Ireland leave 7 people dead and 37 wounded.
 1991: Two IRA members are killed by their own bomb in St Albans.
 1991, 29 May: ETA Basque terrorist group bombs the Guardia Civil police barracks in Vic (Barcelona), kill 10.
 1992: Israeli Embassy bombing in Buenos Aires, Argentina; 29 die.
 1992: Eight Protestant builders killed by an IRA bomb on their way to work at an Army base near Omagh.
 1993: World Trade Center bombing
 1993: Failed New York City landmark bomb plot
 1993, 21 June: ETA Basque terrorist group bombs a militar truck in Madrid, kills 7, 36 injured.
 1993: Mumbai car bombings in India
 1993: IRA bomb in Warrington kills two children.
 1993: IRA detonate a huge truck bomb in the City of London at Bishopsgate, killing two and causing approximately £350m of damage.
 1993, 23 October: A bomb at a fish shop on the Protestant Shankill Road, Belfast kills 10 people, including two children.
 1993, 30 October: Seven people killed in a Loyalist UFF gun attack in a bar in Greysteel, Co Derry.
 1994: Bombing of Jewish Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 86 and wounds 300.
 1994: Baruch Goldstein kills 29 Arabs in machine gun attack on mosque in Hebron.
 1994: Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked by GIA members who planned to crash the plane on Paris but did not succeed.
 1994: A small bomb explodes on board Philippine Airlines flight 434, killing a Japanese businessman. Authorities found out that Ramzi Yousef planted the bomb to test it for his planned terrorist attack.
 1994, 18 June: Six Catholic men shot dead by Loyalists in a pub in Loughinisland, Co Derry.
 1995: Operation Bojinka is discovered on a laptop computer in a Manila, Philippines apartment by authorities after an apartment fire occurred in the apartment.
 1995: Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway
 1995, 19 April: ETA Basque terrorist group tries to kill Jose Maria Aznar (then leader of the Popular Party, later Spanish Prime Minister) bombing his car, kills 1 woman.
 1995: Oklahoma City bombing
 1995 islamist terror bombings in France by a GIA unit (Khaled Kelkal being one of the operational leaders)
 1995: Bombing of military compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
 1995:, 11 December: ETA Basque terrorist group bombs a militar truck in Madrid, kills 6 civilian public servants.
 1996: Central Bank Bombing in Sri Lanka kills 90 and wounds 1,400.
 1996: A series of four suicide bombings in Israel leave 67 dead and 161 wounded within 10 days.
 1996: Centennial Olympic Park bombing, killing one and wounding 111.
 1996: 1996 Docklands bombing - IRA break their ceasefire and kill two in a bomb at the Canary Wharf towers in London.
 1996: 1996 Manchester bombing
 1996: Khobar Towers bombing
 1997: Islamic terrorists attack tourists in Luxor, Egypt, killing 71 people, most of them European and Japanese vacationers.
 1997: A terrorist opened fire on tourists at an observation deck atop the Empire State Building in New York City, killing a Danish national and wounding visitors from the United States, Argentina, Switzerland and France before turning the gun on himself. A handwritten note carried by the gunman claimed this was a punishment attack against the "enemies of Palestine".
 1997, 22 December: 46 killed while praying in Acteal, Chiapas, Mexico. A paramilitary group associated with ex-president Salinas is held responsible.
 1998: U.S. embassy bombings
 1998: Omagh bombing by the so-called "Real IRA" kills 29.
 1999: Gunmen opened fire on Shi'a Muslims worshipping in an Islamabad mosque killing 16 people injuring 25.
 1999: David Copeland's nail bomb attacks against ethnic minorities and gays in London.
 1999: Ahmed Ressam is arrested on the United States-Canada border in Port Angeles, Washington; he confessed to planning to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport as part of the 2000 celebration terrorist attacks plot
 1999: Jordanian authorities foil a plot to bomb United States and Israeli tourists in Jordan and pick up 28 suspects as part of the 2000 celebration terrorist attacks plot
 1999: Indian Airlines Flight 814, which just took off from Kathmandu, Nepal for Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India is hijacked, one passenger is killed and some hostages are released. After negotiations between the Taliban and the Indian government, the last of the remaining hostages on board Flight 814 are released
 1999: Russian Apartment bombings lead Russia into Second Chechen War.
 Fatal Terrorist Attacks in Israel Since the DOP (Sept 1993)

2000s

 2000: The last part of the 2000 celebration terrorist attacks plot fails, as the boat meant to bomb USS The Sullivans sinks
 2000: Beginning of a campaign of attacks on civilians in Israel - see Terrorism against Israel in 2000.
 2000: USS Cole bombing
 2000: German police foil Strasbourg cathedral bombing plot
 2001: September 11, 2001 attacks ("9/11") kill nearly 3,000 in New York City, New York, and hundreds in Arlington, Virginia and Pennsylvania.
 2001: 2001 bomb plot in Europe foiled
 2001: Anthrax attacks on the offices the United States Congress and New York State Government offices, and on employees of television networks and tabloid.
 2001, 13 December: 2001 Indian Parliament attack.
 2001: Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians continue - see Terrorism against Israel in 2001.
 2001: Richard Reid, attempting to destroy American Airlines Flight 63, is subdued by passengers and flight attendants before he could detonate his shoe bomb
 2002: Singapore embassies terrorist attack plot foiled
 2002: Ghriba synagogue bombing in Tunisia
 2002: 2002 Karachi bus bombing
 2002: June 14 attack outside U.S. Consulate in Karachi
 2002: Limburg tanker bombing in Yemen
 2002: Kidnapping and murder of journalist Daniel Pearl
 2002: Bali car bombing of holidaymakers
 2002: Zamboanga bombings in the Philippines
 2002: Moscow theatre siege
 2002: Most deadly year of Palestinian terror campaign against Israel, including the Passover Massacre in which 30 people are killed - see Terrorism against Israel in 2002.
 2002: 2002 Mombasa attacks
 2002: Beltway sniper attacks
 2003: Palestinian terror attacks against Israel continue, including the Maxim restaurant massacre. See Terrorism against Israel in 2003.
 2003: Chechen militants carry out several deadly suicide bombings across Russia and nearby provinces, killing more than 250 people.
 2003: Riyadh Compound bombings—bombings of United States expat housing compounds in Saudi Arabia kill 26 and injure 160. Al-Qaeda blamed.
 2003: 2003 Casablanca bombings in Casablanca, Morocco leaves 45 dead. The attack involved 12 bombers and 5 targets. The targets were "Western and Jewish". Attack attributed to a Moroccan al-Qaeda-linked group.
 2003: Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad, Iraq kills 22 people including the top UN representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
 2003: In response to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, terrorists in that country stage dozens of suicide bombings targeting Iraqi and Coalition targets.
 2003: 2003 Istanbul bombings: Within five days in November, al-Qaeda truck bombs go off at two synagogues, the British Consulate, and the HSBC Bank in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 57 people.
 2003, 15 October: A bomb is detonated by Palestinians against a United States diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip.
 2004: Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 2004
 2004: 109 Kurds are killed in 2 suicide bombings in Arbil, Iraq.
 2004: February 2004 Moscow Metro bombing: Bomb on Moscow Metro kills 41.
 2004: Suicide bombings at Shia holy sites in Iraq kill 181 and wound more than 500.
 2004: Attack on procession of Shia Muslims in Pakistan kills 43 and wounds 160.
 2004: March 9, 2004 attack of Istanbul restaurant
 2004: Bombing of Spanish commuter trains kills 191 people and injures more than 1,400.
 2004: 21 April 2004 Basra bombings
 2004, 21 April: bombing of a security building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia kills 5.
 2004: Islamic militants seize hostages at a compound housing foreign oil workers; at least 25 are killed.
 2005: 7 July 2005 London bombings ("7/7") killed 52 victims and 4 suicide bombers in London.
 2006, 11 July: 2006 Mumbai train bombings
 2007, 18 October: 2007 Karsaz bombing
 2008, 26 July: Ahmedabad bombings
 2008, 20 September: Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing
 2008, 26 November – 29 November: Mumbai attacks on Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident,the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital
 2008, 24-27 December: 2008 Christmas massacres
 2009, 14-17 December: Makombo massacre

2010s

 2011, 22 July: 2011 Norway attacks
 2013, 10 January: January 2013 Pakistan bombings
 2013, 11 May: 2013 Reyhanli car bombings
 2014, 22 October: 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa
 2015, 7 January: Charlie Hebdo shooting
 2015, 20 July: 2015 Suruc bombing
 2015, 17 August: 2015 Bangkok bombing 
 2015, 10 October: 2015 Ankara bombings
 2015, 18 November: November 2015 Paris attacks 
 2016, 17 February: February 206 Ankara bombing
 2016, 22 March: 2016 Brussels bombings
 2016, 28 June: Atatürk Airport attack
 2016, 14 July: 2016 Nice attack
 2016, 10 December: December 2016 Istanbul bombings
 2016, 19 December: 2016 Berlin attack
 2017, 1 January: Istanbul nightclub shooting
 2017, 17 August: 2017 Barcelona attack
 2017, 14 October: 14 October 2017 Mogadishu bombings
 2018, 13 July: 2018 Mastung and Bannu bombings
 2019, 27 January: 2019 Jolo Cathedral bombings
 2019, 21 April: 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings
 2019, 4 August: 2019 Cairo bombing

2020s

See also: aircraft hijacking, Palestinian terrorism, American terrorism, Israeli terrorism, IRA, suicide bombing, List of massacres, assassinations, Dupont Plaza Hotel, GIA

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