removing photos from icloud
I would like to get all my photos and videos off my icloud and laptop and onto an external hard drive.
i want them to be on my external hard drive in chronological order
You don't say what devices and what operating systems you are using. I'm guessing that you have an iPhone and a Mac synced with iCloud. But the OS of each can make a difference. You also haven't said if you have "Optimize Photos" turned on with your devices.
On your Mac, in Photos, you use File>Export to send picture files to Finder Folders, which can certainly be on an external drive. You will have to decide if you want the original files without edits and captions and things you've added, or if you want the edited files with all the metadata. You may want to export both.
If you mean that, instead, you want to keep using your Photos Library, but you want it to be on an external drive, then you should see this:
      Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support
You say you have a laptop, presumably a Mac, so that might add a complication. Especially if you are using iCloud to synchronize your Photos Libraries, then the hard drive needs to stay connected all the time. Because there are background processes, unplugging the Library can upset Photos.