TIMELINE: Basque separatist group ETA

(Reuters) - Armed Basque separatist group ETA said it will end its 15-month-old ceasefire at midnight on Tuesday.

Following is a chronology of some major events since the Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA) was founded:

1959 - ETA, or Basque Homeland and Freedom, is founded during dictatorship of General Francisco Franco to fight for Basque self-determination.

1968 - ETA carries out first killing: victim is Meliton Manzanas, police chief in Basque city San Sebastian.

1973 - Franco's Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco killed when car passes over explosives planted by ETA in Madrid.

1980 - ETA's bloodiest year, nearly 100 killed, despite Spain's recent return to democracy.

Sept 1985 - First ETA car bomb in Madrid. U.S. tourist killed, 16 Civil Guards wounded.

July 1986 - Twelve Civil Guards killed in Madrid and 50 injured. Juan Manuel Soares, a repentant Basque separatist, is sentenced to 1,401 years in jail in April 2000 for the killings.

June 1987 - 21 shoppers killed by bomb at Barcelona supermarket. ETA apologizes.