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| 1840 |
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| Translation of the Bible into Bulgarian by the monk Neophytos, aided by the American missionary Elias Riggs. | 1 |
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| 1841 |
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| Risings against the Ottomans in Nish. | 2 |
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| 1850–51 |
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| Risings against the Ottomans in the Vidin area. | 3 |
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| 1858 |
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| Opening of the first American mission (Samokov Seminary founded by James F. Clarke, 1861). | 4 |
| The Bulgarian national movement grew rapidly, with revolutionary committees at Bucharest and Odessa. The revolutionaries (George Rakovski and Christo Botev) were connected with Prince Michael of Serbia. | 5 |
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| 1866 |
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| The Bulgarian Secret Central Committee was formed in Bucharest, led by Liuben Karavelov and Vasil Levski. Levski crossed into Bulgaria in 1868–69 to establish revolutionary committees, but the Ottomans arrested him in 1872 and hanged him in 1873, creating a national hero. | 6 |
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| 1869 |
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| The Bulgarian Literary Society was founded in Braila, Romania. It moved to Sofia after liberation and became the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in 1911. | 7 |
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| 1870 |
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| The Porte established the Bulgarian exarchate, a national branch of the Orthodox Church. The exarch was given jurisdiction over large parts of Macedonia and Thrace, as well as Bulgaria. The patriarch of Constantinople refused to recognize the Bulgarian Church, however, and excommunicated it in 1872. | 8 |
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| 1875, Sept |
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| Abortive rising of the Bulgarians against Ottoman rule. | 9 |
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| 1876, April–Aug |
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| A great insurrection in Bulgaria was planned by the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee and put down by Ottoman irregulars (Bulgarian Horrors). | 10 |
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| 1878, March 3 |
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| THE TREATY OF SAN STEFANO (See March 3) provided provision for a large Bulgarian state to include most of Macedonia. | 11 |
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| July 13 |
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| THE TREATY OF BERLIN (See June 13–July 13) established a small Bulgarian principality north of the Balkan Mountains, and an Eastern Rumelia south of the mountains. Both remained under Ottoman suzerainty. Macedonia was left under Ottoman rule, with promises (article XXIII) of reform. | 12 |
| One result of the Treaty of Berlin was Ottoman emigration from Bulgaria, freeing large areas of land. As much as a quarter of the arable land in Bulgaria and Rumelia went to peasant proprietors. Despite population pressures, land availability kept pace with demand throughout this period. | 13 |
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