The history of Kutno is many centuries old and contains both periods of prosperity and decline. The city enjoyed long years of success under the reigns of diligent and enlightened owners; it also struggled with crises following turbulent history of Poland and the disintegration of feudal structures.
The town of Kutno was originated in a place which had often been settled in ancient times. Recent archeological research carried out in the area of Kutno have led to some interesting discoveries of new settlements of East-Pomeranian culture, most interesting of them being: a box grave from the village of Kręcieszki, Bedlno community, dating back to the late Hallstattan period (550-400 BC) and containing as many as 42 urns, and a pit grave, unusual for that culture, from Florek, Kutno community. The latter comes from the early La Tene (400 BC - early AD).

 The market privilege bestowed by prince Siemowit IV of Płock in 1386 marks the beginning of Kutno's municipal character. The privilege was given to Andrzej of Radzikowo for his devoted duty for the prince during his endeavors to attain the Polish crown. That act freed residents of Kutno from any fees, levies and burdens saved two grosze per feud. Besides, it released them from the jurisdiction of land courts so residents were liable to the prince and landowners only. Finally, the prince allowed them to trade on Mondays and have fairs on the Feast of St. Lawrence's. The market privilege was crucial for further development of Kutno which had already been a well-organized place since there was a parish church there. The origins of Kutno parish might have begun even in the first half of the 13th century. Two facts seem to testify to that date: the vast parish contained 14 villages and the church patron - St. Lawrence whose cult became popular in Poland at the turn of 13th century. The construction of a stone church in the early 15th century also shows the importance of Kutno as a religious centre. The new church is a result of Andrzej of Radzikowo's patronage.

In the case of Kutno the foundation charter based on German Law is unknown, however, the latest research concerning the town's origins points to the market privilege as the proper document because such deeds used to be equal to foundation of a town in the region of Mazowsze. Therefore, we may suppose that also about the year 1386 a municipal self-government was formed. Still, the first unambiguous mention of Kutno as a city comes from a document issued as late as in 1444. Similarly, from the 1430's residents of Kutno were called "oppidiani" (burghers) or "providi" and both names were used in reference to townspeople. The oldest town's seal of Kutno comes from that earliest period and depicts two wild boars in an antithetic arrangement with a cyperaceous herb in between. There is an inscription written in Gothic: "sigillum civitatis kuthnensis" going round the artwork.

Andrzej of Radzikowo was the progenitor of the Kucieński family who had owned the city since 1689. Mikołaj Kucieński (ca. 1430 - 1493), a voivode of Łęczyca and general starost of Wielkopolska originated the greatness of his family. He also belonged to the closest circle of king Kazimierz Jagiellończyk's court. In 1462, after the death of Władysław II, the prince of Mazowsze, he made a clear-cut offer to submit his castle at Gostynin to the king thus incorporating the land of Gostynin and his property directly to the crown of Poland.

- the end of the 15th century - Mikołaj Kucieński is the founder of a hospital for the poor, of the Holy Spirit and St. Leonard. A parish school is organized in the city.
- 1504 - the city acquires the right to fairs, the right to have a toll-keeper's chamber and another municipal privilege.
- 1513 - a document issued by king Zygmunt Stary becomes the first mention of Kutno Jews; they were three merchants of Kutno called Mosze, Salomon (or Szlomo) and Lewka, given a one year's moratorium to pay back their debts.
- 14th - 15th century - a period of intensive development of landed properties of the Kucieński family, the city owners. The number of residents grows, trade and handicraft strengthen .
- 1662 - king Jan Kazimierz bestows privileges upon the guilds of: tailors, blacksmiths and carpenters. Andrzej Władysław Kucieński, a castellan of Kruszwica, sets the city back on its feet after the "Swedish deluge".
- 1701 - the Kucieński family finally sell the town to the Zamoyski family.
- 1748 - a Saxon post route which used to pass over Wrocław - is corrected and now runs through Poznań, Kargowa and Kutno to Warsaw and also attends to a regiment of uhlans. A post estate of king August III is built in Kutno to be used during travels between Dresden and Warsaw.
- 1753 - there is a large fire in the city, causing substantial damage which added to the havoc that followed numerous marches of Swedish, Saxon, Russian and Polish troops past the city in the early 18th century.
- 1766 - Andrzej Zamoyski, a royal chancellor and then the owner of Kutno, successfully strives for a new foundation privilege for the city. It enlivened economic growth and the city obtained a new crest. Internal relations are tidied and regulation of town planning begins.
- 1767 - residents' villein services are rent-charged, municipal self-government is given more freedom and Jewish citizens' status in law is established.
- 1774 - another fire consumes the city. During reconstruction townspeople build brick houses, roofed with tiles.
- 1775 - Stanisław Kostka Gadomski becomes owner of the city. Kutno expanded and became one of the biggest municipal centers in central Poland after Piotrków and Łowicz. In that period the new post route from Warsaw to Poznań and Wschowa, running through Kutno, had a major significance for the city's economy and employment structure. New craftsmen came to the city and trade developed. Numerous Jewish population settled down and received a number of rights and care from Stanisław Gadomski.
- 1791 - Walenty Rzętkowski bought the land of Kutno. He was the cup-bearer of Gostynin and member of parliament. During his times there were 668 Catholics, 63 Lutherans and 1,272 Jews in the city.
- 1793 - after the second partitioning of Poland Kutno was ruled by the Prussians again and became a part of new province called Southern Prussia. At the same time new authorities begin a period of transformations of the existing social and economic structure. Prussian policy consistently aimed at expansion of their own fiscal and administrative systems, controlling all aspects of life in the annexed territory. The new situation was reluctantly accepted by residents of the city; the self-government was constrained - the mayor and members of municipal council were appointed by the government. The mayor became in fact a state official, representing the conquerors' interests.
- 1806 - Napoleon's troops, commanded by Le Blanc, entered the city.
- 1807 - emperor Napoleon stopped in Kutno on his way to Tylża and was hosted by the owner of Kutno. The Grand Duchy of Warsaw is formed under the Tylża treaty. A bourgeoisie model of society and state was imposed on the Duchy by Napoleonian constitution. The notion of a national citizen came up for the first time in Polish land, however, political rights were so restrictively determined by property and education that there were only 18 citizens with a right to be elected in Kutno.
- 1808 - a large fire plays havoc on 180 houses in Kutno. The city's population numbered 2,105 permanent residents then.
- 1809 - general Jan Henryk Dąbrowski and his staff resided in Kutno.
The beginning of a new century was particularly difficult for people of Kutno. Polish, French and Russian soldiers frequently marched past the city. Townspeople were burdened with excessive taxes and economy declined. Such predicaments led to first determined struggles for independence (1806).
- 1815 - the Kingdom of Poland, including Kutno, is formed from the divided Duchy of Warsaw.
- 1819 - Russian troops returning from France march through the city.
- 1820 - Antoni Gliszczyński brings German clothiers to Kutno. An evangelical parish was organized in the city and provided for by the city's owner.
- 1823 - municipal authorities buy first 10 reverberatory lanterns to light up the city.
- 1827 - there are 4,620 inhabitants in Kutno. For comparison, Łęczyca numbered 1,500 and Łódź 400 residents in the times of Grand Duchy of Warsaw.
- 1830 - residents of Kutno and its vicinities took active part in the November Uprising. The 2nd Regiment of Mazovians is organized in city and, thanks to citizens' dedication, soon achieves combat readiness and in February 1831 leaves Kutno for Warsaw. Many representatives of local nobility served in the regiment as officers, which caused much repression after the fall of uprising. Some of them lost their estates and emigrated, like the Świętosławski brothers from the nearby Łęki Kościelne, who later became energetic activists in exile, and Franciszek Trzciński from Sklęczki (now a district of the city), a member of parliament who organized a secret committee with Joachim Lelewel just before the defeat. The committee helped patriotic activists emigrate to France.
The insurrectionary government included the owner of Kutno, Antoni Gliszyński who performed the function of minister of internal affairs and police.
- 1833 - Karol Götz opens the fifth cake shop in Kutno. There is a billiard pool which becomes the biggest attraction in the city.
- 1844 - county hospital is opened for public in Kutno. The hospital was founded by a Care Council of Charitable Institutions, presided by Feliks Mniewski, then the owner of Kutno properties.
- 1862 - the Warsaw-Bydgoszcz railway line, going through Kutno, is an important constituent of the city's economic development, being crucial for the growing sugar industry and agricultural trade. Kutno became a leading center of corn trade in the whole of left-bank region of Mazowsze.
- 1863 - on January 22 at night the January Uprising broken out. The provisional government left Warsaw and moved to Kutno. Some members of the government: Rev. Karol Mikoszowski, Józef Kajetan Jankowski and Jan Maykowski stayed in Kutno for five days, from January 23 until 27, 1863. In the initial period of the uprising there operated four spontaneous partisan troops, called parties in the counties of Łęczyca and Gostynin.
- 1866 - a czar's act annulled the hereditary and dominion rights in cities. Intensive urban development follows in Kutno. Population grows in a way resembling that in the Łódź industrial center. In 1890 Kutno was one of 30 municipal centers in the Kingdom of Poland with population over 10,000.
- 1881 - there are 10 establishments in the city, called "factories" (including a mill with bakery, a farm machines factory, an oil mill, a vinegar factory and mead brewery).
- 1905 - 1907 - the echoes of revolution reach the city. Strikes, mainly on economic grounds, escalated just as arrests and czarist terror.
- 1914 - 1918 - the period of World War I. Russians were evacuated from Kutno. On people's initiative a citizens' committee is constituted which is to replace the non-existent administrative authorities. When German soldiers entered the city all significant functions were taken over by Germans.
- 1918 - Polish Military Organization and residents of Kutno took active part in disarmament of German troops and establishment of an independent state.
- 1919 - 1939 - the county of Kutno was contained in the administrative limits of the Warsaw Province, then - from April 1939 - becomes a part of the Łódź Province. In 1926 the mayor participates in the 3rd Congress of International Union of Cities, as in the 1920's Kutno joined the Polish Union of Cities.
- 1939 - 1945 - World War II. In the early days of September 1939 a bloody battle was fought at Kutno, called the "battle of the Bzura".
During the occupation Germans carried on the policy of oppression and extermination of Polish and Jewish population. In 1940 a ghetto was formed in the city where nearly 8,000 Jews were kept until March 1942 when the liquidation began. The Jews of Kutno were deported and murdered at Chełmno on the Ner River. Polish Home Army operates actively in the region.
- 1945 - 1975 - the town is a seat of county authorities within the Province of Łódź.
- 1975 - 1998 - Kutno becomes the second largest city of the Province of Płock. Political transformations, begun in 1989, give base for economic reconstruction and the city became a center of trade, industries, culture and education.
- 1999 - as a result of new administrative division Kutno returns to the Province of Łódź