TIMELINE - Milestones in the pound's recent history

(Reuters) - Sterling has scaled fresh 26-year highs, stopping just short of $2.07.

Following are some recent milestones for the pound, starting from 1990.

October 1990 - Sterling joins Europe's Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) -- with a band of six percent above or below a central rate of 2.95 German marks per pound -- as finance minister John Major persuades Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to end her opposition to British participation. At a Rome summit, Thatcher resists move towards single European currency.

November 1990 - Thatcher resigns as Prime Minister after 11 years in power. Major wins leadership contest, taking over as leader of ruling Conservative party and premier.

February 1991 - Sterling climbs to $2.0045, breaking above $2 for the first time in a decade. The dollar comes under broad pressure, despite central bank intervention to support it, as markets focus on the widening yield differential with Germany.

September 1992 - Sterling rises as high as $2.0100, only to tumble later in the month when Britain is forced out of the European Union's Exchange Rate Mechanism. The pound drops 25 percent in just three months after speculative selling forced Britain to detach itself from the ERM on the day dubbed Black Wednesday.

May 2, 1997 - Britain's opposition Labour Party wins the general election, returning to power for the first time in 18 years. Sterling trades at $1.6220.

May 6, 1997 - Bank of England is granted independence. The government transfers full operation responsibility for monetary policy to the BoE. At the same time Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown raises interest rates by 25 basis points.

January 1999 - Euro is launched. Sterling starts the year at $1.6580.