Notable dates from Market Harborough's past
| 1086 | Great Bowden mentioned in the Domesday Book. Harborough not yet formed. |
| 1180 | King Henry II granted Manor of Bowden and Harborough to William Mauduit |
| 1204 | Monday Market established |
| 1221 | Market day changed to Tuesdays |
| 1300 | The steeple (a broach spire) of St. Dionysius church started |
| 1320 | St Dionysius church's steeple completed |
| 1470 | Main part of St Dionysius church completed |
| 1517 | First mention of the Three Swans Inn |
| 1564 | According to registers there were 78 families in the chapelry of Harborough |
| 1609 | Outbreak of the plague |
| 1614 | Grammar School built by Robert Smyth |
| 1645 | Oliver Cromwell wrote of his victory from "The Bell Inn" in Coventry Road |
| 1694 | Meeting house built in Bowden Lane (Congregational Church) |
| 1776 | Earliest known map by Rowland Rouse |
| 1788 | Town Hall built |
| 1788 | According to registers there were 320 families in Harborough |
| 1806 | First steam powered factory - Clarke's worsted and carpet factory, Tag Lane |
| 1809 | Canal reached the town |
| 1836 | Workhouse built to deal with the poor |
| 1841 | Thomas Cook organised the first group travel by rail from Leicester to Loughborough |
| 1850 | Railway link to Rugby |
| 1850 | William Symington established a factory to make pea flour and to roast coffee. Springfield Street. |
| 1854 | William Eland published the Market Harborough Advertiser newspaper |
| 1857 | Railway link Leicester to London |
| 1859 | Railway link to Northampton |
| 1870 | Volunteer Fire Brigade formed |
| 1876 | Symington's factory began making corsets. |
| 1877 | St Mary's (later Our Lady of Victories) RC Church built (Coventry Road) |
| 1883 | New system of sewers laid |
| 1883 | Gas company formed |
| 1884 | Symington's factory extended to Church Street |
| 1898 | Tungstone's factory started in Lathkill Street |
| 1901 | Abbey Street built by demolishing The Coach and Horses Inn and the yard behind |
| 1903 | Cattle market moved from town centre to Springfield Street |
| 1903 | Fire Station in Abbey Street built |
| 1904 | Assembly Rooms built |
| 1910 | Cottage hospital opened |
| 1921 | Dedication of First World War memorial (Memorial Cross) |
| 1923 | Market Harborough Advertiser and The Market Harborough Mail merged to The Market Harborough Advertiser and Midland Mail, now Harborough Mail |
| 1931 | Market Harborough Historical Society, (originally, The Market Harborough Archaeological & Historical Society), founded. |
| 1934 | The town chosen as the first place to install "cats' eyes" |
| 1935 | Official opening of Welland Park School |
| 1938 | Indoor covered market established |
| 1939 | The Ritz cinema opened |
| 1955 | The Grammar School, (now Robert Smyth Academy) established. Burnmill Road |
| 1965 | Harborough Mail moved offices to Northampton Road |
| 1983 | Harborough Museum opened. |
| 1990 | Harborough Leisure Centre opened |
| 2007 | Harborough FM launched as a full-time community radio station |
| 2011 | HarboroughHistory website created |