| 1969 |
| DHL founded by Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn in San Francisco. |
| 1971 |
| DHL expands its network rapidly and becomes a trusted partner of many companies. Expansion into the Far East and Pacific Rim. |
| 1972 |
| Services introduced in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. |
| 1974 |
| The first UK office is opened in London. Globally, DHL now had 3,052 customers and 314 staff. |
| 1976-1978 |
| Expansion in three major regions as DHL launches in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. |
| 1977 |
| The first German DHL office is opened in Frankfurt. |
| 1979 |
| DHL extends its services to delivering packages. Only document services had been available until now. |
| 1983 |
| DHL is the first air express forwarder to serve Eastern European countries. An international distribution centre (hub) is opened in Cincinnati, USA. |
| 1985 |
| A state-of-the-art hub is opened in Brussels. More than 165,000 shipments are handled per night. |
| 1986 |
| DHL enters into a joint venture with the People's Republic of China and becomes the first express company active in China. |
| 1990 |
| DHL enters into strategic alliances with Lufthansa, Japan Airlines and Nissho Iwai. |
| 1991 |
| DHL becomes the first international express company to restart service to Kuwait after the Gulf War. |
| 1993 |
| DHL invests US$ 60 million in a new hub facility in Bahrain. |
| 1998 |
| Deutsche Post becomes a shareholder in DHL. |
| A major IT centre is opened in Kuala Lumpur. |
| 1999 |
| DHL Worldwide Express invests over 1 billion euros in a new state-of-the-art air cargo fleet in the European and African network. |
| 44 new Boeing 757SF cargo planes are acquired: these planes cut noise at take off by 77% and CO2 emissions by 13% compared to the fleet of B737Fs they replace. |
| 2002 |
| Deutsche Post World Net becomes the major shareholder in DHL from 1 January. A 100% shareholding is completed by the end of the year. |
| Network expansion in Asia: in October, DHL enters into a joint venture with Cathay Pacific for express air cargo. |
| A new global IT centre is opened in Scottsdale, USA. |
| 2003 |
| DHL increases its share in Sinotrans to 5%, thereby becoming Sinotrans' largest strategic investor. |
| Deutsche Post, DHL and Postbank make up the Group's current brand architecture. DHL now serves as the exclusive brand for all express and logistics activities. |
| DHL's corporate colours become yellow and red. In April, the worldwide visual transformation of all vehicles, packing materials, buildings and courier uniforms begins. |
| Through the purchase of Airborne Express (2002 revenue: USD 3.3 billion), DHL will be the third largest express service provider in the USA. DHL bridges the last gap in its US/American network with Airborne's overland transport network. |
| October sees the launch of a five-year investment programme in China: DHL will significantly expand its capacities through an investment of USD 200 million. |
| 2004 |
| New global IT facility opens in Prague, Czech Republic. It replaces the facility in London. |
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