Timeline of Bogotá

Prehistory

The area around Bogotá was inhabited since the late Pleistocene, with sites El Abra (12,500 BP), Aguazuque and Tequendama as earliest evidences of inhabitation

Pre-conquest

<1537 - Bogotá and its surroundings was called Bacatá by the Muisca who inhabited the Bogotá savanna and were organised in their loose Muisca Confederation

16th century

1538 - Santa Fe de Bogotá founded by Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.

1539 - 27 April: Municipal council in session

1540 - City status granted by Charles I of the Spanish Empire

1549 - City becomes capital of the New Kingdom of Granada

1550 - Santo Domingo convent founded.

1553 - Main Plaza relocated

1557 - Santo Domingo convent relocated

1558 - Smallpox epidemic

1561 - Roman Catholic Diocese of Santafé en Nueva Granada established

1564 - Archbishop Juan de los Barrios gifts his house for the establishment of the San Pedro hospital

1565 - Chapel built

1578 - The enterpreuner and landowner Francisco Hernán Sanchéz, urbanizes the surrounding areas to the river and builds a temple

1580 - Saint Thomas Aquinas University founded

1592 - San Bartolomé Seminar School founded

17th century

1604 - Jesuit college established

1616 - Population: 3,000

1621

Mint established

Church of San Francisco built.

1635 - Iglesia de San Ignacio (church) opens

1653 - Our Lady of the Rosary University founded

1674 - Santa Clara church built

1675 - Leprosy epidemic

1681 - Typhus epidemic

1692 - Measles epidemic

18th century

1714 - Earthquake

1717 - City becomes capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada

1739 - The San Pedro hospital is renamed as the San Juan de Dios hospital

1777 - Real Biblioteca Publica (library) founded

1781 - The rebellion of the Comuneros (commoners in English) takes place

1782 - José Antonio Galán and other leaders of the Comuneros are hanged in the Plaza Mayor de Santafé

1783 - La Enseñanza school founded

1785 - Earthquake

1789 - Population: 18,161

1791

First map of the city is made by Domingo Esquiaqui

Papel periódico de la Ciudad de Santa Fe de Bogota newspaper begins publication

19th century

1801 - Population: 21,394

1803 - Observatorio Astronómico constructed

1810 - City becomes capital of the Free and Independent State of Cundinamarca

1816

Spaniard Pablo Morillo in power

Puerta Falsa cafe in business

1819

Santafé de Bogotá is renamed as Bogotá

Population: 30,000

1823 - Primary Cathedral built

1824 - Colombian National Museum opens

1836 - Central Cemetery of Bogotá established

1840

Trolleybus starts operating

El Día newspaper begins publication

1846

Sociedad Filarmonica founded

Caja de Ahorros (bank) established

Statue of Simón Bolívar is erected in the center of the Plaza Mayor

Police Force of Bogotá established

1847 - Society of Artisans organized

1864 - Medicine & Natural Sciences Society founded

1865 - Telegraph begins operating

1867 - Universidad Nacional de Colombia (national university) is founded

1870 - Banco de Bogota founded

1871 - Academia Colombiana de la Lengua (national language academy) founded

1875 - Capitol building constructed

1876 - Prison begins operating.

1881 - Papel Periódico Ilustrado begins publication

1884

Compañía Colombiana de Teléfonos (telephone company) established

Tramway begins operating

1886 - Universidad Externado de Colombia and Escuela de Bellas Artes (school) founded

1887 - The aqueduct is upgraded to an iron aqueduct pipe

1889

Facatativá-Bogota railway begins operating

Bogotá Electric Light Company is founded

1890 - Bavaria brewery in business

1891 - The Medicine & Sciences Society is renamed as Academia de Medicina (Colombia), (Medicine Academy)

1892

Usaquen train station of the Ferrocarril del Norte (Bogotá) inaugurated

Teatro de Cristóbal Colón inaugurated

1893

January: riots

El Artesano newspaper begins publication

1895

Municipal Theatre inaugurated

Population: 95,813

1896 - The glass factory Fenicia established

1898

Hipodromo de la Gran Sabana (racecourse) inaugurated

Revista Ilustrada begins publication

20th century

1900 - 31 July: Coup

1902

Academia Colombiana de Historia (history academy) founded

The Edificio de Lievano (city hall) set

1905 - Population: 100.000

1908 - Palacio de Nariño dedicated

1909

Compañia de Cementos Samper (cement company) established

Electric streetcar begins operating

1910

Exposición del Centenario de la independencia (world's fair) held

Javier Tobar Ahumada becomes mayor

1911

First airplane lands in Bogotá for an exhibition

El Tiempo newspaper begins publication

1912

Population: 121,257

Carlos Eduardo Padilla builds an airplane and flies over Chapinero

1915 - El Espectador newspaper begins publication in Bogota

1918

Population: 143.994

Flu epidemic

1921 - First student strike

1922 - Quinta de Bolívar museum inaugurated

1923 - Police headquarters building constructed

1926 - Capitolio Nacional built

1928

Bogotá Stock Exchange established

Population: 235,421

1929 - Medellín-Bogota railway begins operating

1930

Aerodromo del Techo (aerodrome) is built

The Voz de la Victor (radio) founded

1931 - Santamaría Bullring constructed

1933 - First Juegos Atléticos Nacionales takes place

1936 - El Siglo newspaper begins publication

1937 - University City (campus) of National University of Colombia built

1938

Estadio El Campín, Alfonso López Pumarejo Stadium, and National Library building constructed

400th anniversary of city founding

Avenida de Las Américas (avenue) built

Population: 336,996

First Feria Internacional del Libro de Bogotá (book fair) inaugurated

1939 - Gold Museum established

1941 - Corporación Deportiva Santa Fe (football club) formed

1946 - Millonarios Fútbol Club formed

1947 - Architect Le Corbusier is hired to conduct the city planning

1948

March–April: International Conference of American States held

9 April: Bogotazo

District University of Bogotá and University of the Andes established

1951 - Population: 715.250

1952 - City flag design adopted

1953 - Bogotá Museum of Modern Art inaugurated

1954

Bosa, Engativa, Fontibon, Suba, Usme, and Usaquen townships become part of city

First television transmmission is made

Colombian Film Archive founded

La Republica newspaper begins publication

Mass migration from other regions in Colombia to Bogotá, due to violence since the Bogotazo

Corferias (Fair and Exposition Corporation of Bogotá) founded

1955 - Bogotá Botanical Garden opens

1956 - University of America founded

1958

Construction of the 26th Avenue begins

Luis Ángel Arango Library opens

1959

El Dorado Airport in operation

Corficolombiana headquartered in Bogota

1960 - Population: 1,271,700

1961 - John F. Kennedy visits Bogotá

1963 - Puente Aranda becomes part of the city

1964

Population: 1'697.311

Charles de Gaulle visits Bogotá

1965 - El Espacio newspaper begins publication

1967 - Bogotá Philharmonic founded

1968

August: Pope Paul VI visits the city

Simón Bolívar Park inaugurated

Fuerza Aérea de Colombia (national airforce) establishes the Aeronautical Museum in the old airport of Techo

1969 - Avianca Building constructed

1970

Catholic University of Colombia founded

Population: 2,526,000

1974 - Ciclovía inaugurated

1976 - First shopping center in the city, Unicentro (Bogotá) opens

1977 - Centro de Comercio Internacional built

1978 - Torre Colpatria built

1979 - Leftist guerrilla M-19 takes the embassy of Dominican Republic

1982 - Military University Nueva Granada established

1984

Bus terminal inaugurated

Metrópolis shopping center inaugurated

Bogotá Film Festival begins

1985

6 November: Palace of Justice siege

Population: 3,983,000

1986

3 July: Pope John Paul II visits the city

Children's Museum of Bogotá established

1987 - Housing complex Ciudad Salitre construction begins

1988

Andrés Pastrana Arango first mayor of Bogotá elected by popular vote, previously they were elected by the president or governor

Iberoamerican Theater Festival held

1989

Archivo General de la Nación (government department) inaugurated

6 December: Bombing in Paloquemao

Santa Barbara shopping center opens

1990s

1990 - La Equidad football club formed

1991 - Juan Martín Caicedo Ferrer becomes mayor

1992 - Sonia Durán de Infante becomes mayor, succeeded by Jaime Castro Castro

1993

Population: 5'484.244

November: Bombing on 15th Avenue

1995

Rock al Parque music festival begins

Antanas Mockus Sivickas becomes mayor

Centro Andino shopping mall opens

September: Track Cycling World Championships held at Luis Carlos Galán Velodrome

1996

Casa de Moneda de Colombia (museum) inaugurated

Paul Bromberg Silverstein becomes mayor

1998

Maloka Museum of science inaugurated

Enrique Peñalosa Londoño becomes mayor

1999

Citytv Bogotá begins broadcasting

Mormon temple dedicated

2000s

2000

TransMilenio bus system begins operating

24 February: Car-Free Day inaugurated

2001

Colombian Securities Exchange headquartered in city

Antanas Mockus Sivickas becomes mayor

July: Copa América football tournament held at El Campín Stadium

2002

25 January: Bombing

7 August: Attack at Presidential Palace

13 December: Hotel bombing

2003

National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia founded

7 February: El Nogal Club bombing

8 October: Bombing

15 November: Attack in pub

2004

Luis Eduardo Garzón becomes mayor

29 October: Bombing

2005

Bogotá's Carnival resurrected

Population: 6,778,691

2006

Bike Paths Network laid out

Centro Comercial Santafé shopping mall opens

31 July: Bombing

2008

La Peluquería (art space) founded

Samuel Moreno Rojas becomes mayor

2009 - Fundación Capital headquartered in city

2010s

2011 - María Fernanda Campo becomes mayor, succeeded by Clara López Obregón

2012 - Gustavo Petro becomes mayor

2013

Google Street View begins operating

December: Pro-Petro demonstration

2014 - Population: 7,776,845 (urban agglomeration).