4500 BC: Temples built atop hills overlooking the Sea.
73: 960 Jewish zealots committed mass suicide rather than submit to Roman rule.
1930: Water surface of 1,050 km2 (410 sq mi) at 390 m (1,280 ft) below sea level
1946: Starting in 1946 and ending in 1956 The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the Qumran Caves. These scrolls are the first records of the bible and an important part of history to the land.
Qumran Caves located at the Northern tip of The Dead Sea where the scrolls were located.
1947: Extraction of minerals from The Dead Sea began until operation was shut down
1948: Israel declared its own state by the United Nations to hold most of the Jewish population that once was a part of Palestine
1952: The Dead Sea Works LTD established as a state-owned company to extract potash and other minerals from the sea mostly for fertilizer purposes
1953: Kibbutz Ein Gedi founded
1955: The Dead Sea Works LTD privatized and now owned by Israel Chemicals, important to note because now the government does not have control over its operations except for state policy
The Dead Sea Works extraction facility.
1956: Arab Potash (APC) formed
1959: The modern era for using the sea to treat skin diseases began, led to the ideas of bottling it up so that people do not have to travel all the way to Israel to experience it
1970: Water surface at 395 m (1,296 ft) below sea level
1980: Water surface of 680 km2 at 400 m below sea level; first sinkhole appeared
1990: 40 recorded sinkholes (on the Israeli side)
1990: The cosmetics company Premier who uses minerals exclusively from The Dead Sea was established
1992: Water surface of 675 km2 at 407m below sea level
1997: Water surface of 670 km2 at 411m below sea level
2004: Water surface of 662 km2 at 417m below sea level
2006: Water surface at 418 m (1,371 ft) below sea level
2009: At a regional conference in July officials expressed their concerns for The Dead Sea and suggested reducing extraction processes, increasing flow of water from The Jordan River, or stricter environmental regulations
2009: The Jordanians suggest the Red Sea-Dead Sea Project; a plan that would create a pipeline diverting water to Jordan and adding more water to The Dead Sea, a group was then tasked to do a feasibility study on the idea
2010: Water surface of 655 km2 at 423m below sea level
2013: First recorded rise in water level (10 cm) of the Dead Sea in 10 years due to heavy rain
2013: Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority signed an agreement to lay a pipeline from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, essentially the plan suggested in 2009, and is said to take 5 years to complete
2014: Water surface of 60 km2 at 427m below sea level; 3,000 recorded sinkholes (on the Israeli side)
2014: Israel attacks the city of Hamas in Palestine with missiles after 3 Israeli teenagers from the West Bank were found dead