Timeline of Cairo

Prior to 19th century

1st century BCE - Babylon Fortress built (approximate date).

4th-5th centuries CE - Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga) built.

6th century - Church of Saint Menas established.

642 - Mosque of Amr ibn al-As built.

879 - Mosque of Ibn Tulun built.

Church of St. George built (approximate date).

Church of the Virgin Mary (Haret Zuweila) built (approximate date).

970

Misr al-Qahira settlement founded by Fatimid Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah.

Al-Azhar University established.

972 - Al-Azhar Mosque established.

978 -The Hanging Church rebuilt (approximate date).

979 - Saint Mercurius Church in Coptic Cairo rebuilt (approximate date).

992 - Al-Hakim Mosque built.

11th century - Church of the Holy Virgin (Babylon El-Darag) built.

1016 - Lulua Mosque built.

1073 - Saint Barbara Church in Coptic Cairo restored.

1085 - Juyushi Mosque built.

1092 - City wall and Gates of Cairo built (including Bab Zuweila and Bab al-Nasr).

1125 - Aqmar Mosque built.

1154 - Al-Hussein Mosque built.

1160 - Al-Salih Tala'i Mosque built.

1168 - Egypt's capital moved from Fustat to Cairo.

1183 - Saladin Citadel built.

c. 1205 - Bab Moshé (Ibn Maimoun) Synagogue established

1250 - City becomes capital of Mamluk Sultanate.

1280 - Qalawun complex built (approximate date).

1318 - Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque built.

1340 - Mosque of Amir al-Maridani established.

1347 - Aqsunqur Mosque built.

1349 - Mosque of Shaykhu built.

1352 - Amir Taz Palace built.

1355 - Khanqah of Shaykhu built.

1359 - Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan built.

1421 - Mosque of Sultan al-Muayyad built.

1517

January: Battle of Ridaniya occurs near Cairo.

Capture of Cairo by Ottoman forces.

City becomes provincial capital during Selim I's rule of Ottoman Empire.

1774 - Mosque of Abu Dahab built.

1788 - Al Musafir Khana Palace built.

1798 - Napoleon arrives.

19th century

1801 - June: Siege of Cairo - French surrender to British and Ottoman forces

1811 - March: Massacre of the Citadel.

1822 - Arabic printing press in operation.

1827 - Kasr Al-Ainy Medical School established.

1828

Government Al-Waqa'i'a al-Masriya newspaper begins publication.

Dar al-Mahfuzat (government archive) established.

1848 - Mosque of Muhammad Ali built.

1854 - Khorenian School begins.

1856 - Railway station built.

1860 - Shepheard's Hotel in operation.

1869 - Khedivial Opera House opens.

1870 - Egyptian National Library and Archives established.

1871- 24 December: Premiere of Verdi's Aida.

1874 - Abdeen Palace built.

1875 - Al-Ahram newspaper begins publication.

1879 - Collège de la Sainte Famille founded

1880 - Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l'Art Arabe established.

1882

Population: 347,838.

Khedivial Sporting Club founded.

1888 - Collège des Frères (Bab al-Louq) opens.

1892 - Ben Ezra Synagogue built.

1893 - Le Progrès Egyptien newspaper begins publication.

1897 - El Khalig canal filled in.

1899

Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue built

Al-Ahram newspaper headquartered in Cairo.

1900s-1940s

1900 - Ets Hayim Synagogue (Hanan Synagogue) established

1902 - Egyptian Museum established.

1905 - Chaar Hachamaim Synagogue established

1906 - Pathé cinema built.

1907 - Al Ahly Sporting Club formed.

1908

Cairo University and Café Riche opened.

Egyptian School of Fine Arts and American College for Girls founded.

1910

Coptic Museum built.

Heliopolis Palace Hotel opened.

Heliopolis Sporting Club founded.

1905 - Shimon Bar Yochai Synagogue established

1911

Zamalek Sporting Club formed.

Baron Empain Palace built.

1912

Boulak Bridge and Al-Rifa'i Mosque built.

1915

Arev and Housaper newspapers begin publication.

1919

Uprising against British occupation.

American University in Cairo established.

1921 - Cairo Conference held.

1922

Tutankhamun's tomb discovered.

1924 - 19 November: British governor-general Stack of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan assassinated.

1925 - Pahad Itzhak (Kreim) Synagogue established

1929 - Manial Palace built.

1932

Society Of The Muslim Brothers headquartered in Cairo.

Moussa Dar'i Synagogue established

1933 - Qasr al-Nil Bridge built.

1934 - St. George's College, Cairo established.

1934 - Meir'enaim (Biton) Synagogue established

1937

Population: 1.3 million.

Yacoubian Building constructed.

Lycée La Liberté Héliopolis opens

1938 - Publication of The Egyptian Gazette moves from Alexandria to Cairo.

1940 - Metro Cinema opens.

1942 - Abdeen Palace Incident.

1944 - Cairo Forces Parliament meeting.

1945

Arab League headquartered in Cairo.

Ashkènazim Synagogue restored

1946 - Ali Baba Cinema opens.

1948

Tchahagir newspaper begins publication.

Rivoli Cinema opens.

1949 - 12 February: Muslim leader Hassan al-Banna assassinated.

1950s-1990s

1950 - Ain Shams University founded.

1952

Cairo Fire.

The Mogamma built.

Ismailia Square renamed Tahrir Square.

Egyptian Revolution of 1952

Al Akhbar (Egypt) starts publication.

1954 - Al Gomhuria newspaper begins publication.

1956

Cairo International Stadium opens.

City master plan created.

1959

Cairo Conservatoire opens.

Academy of Arts (Egypt) and Cairo Symphony Orchestra founded.

Arab Petroleum Congress meets in Cairo.

1961 - Cairo Tower built.

1963 - Cairo International Airport opens.

1964 - January: 1964 Arab League summit (Cairo) held.

1965 - Population: 3.3 million.

1966 - Cairo Opera Ballet Company founded.

1967 - Bab Moshé (Ibn Maimoun) Synagogue restored.

1968 - Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral built.

1969 - Cairo International Book Fair founded.

1970

January: Israeli forces conduct aerial attacks near Cairo.

September: 1970 Arab League summit held.

Greater Cairo Master Plan created.

1972 - January: Student demonstration.

1975

January: Economic demonstration.

Unknown Soldier Memorial (Egypt) inaugurated.

1976

1976 Arab League summit (Cairo).

Cairo International Film Festival begins.

British International School in Cairo established.

Manor House School, Cairo opens.

1977 - January: Economic demonstration.

1978 - New Cairo British International School formed.

1979

Egypt Today magazine begins publication.

Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt established.

Sister city relationships established with Frankfurt and Stuttgart, Germany.

1981

6 October: Assassination of Anwar Sadat.

Sadat Academy for Management Sciences opens.

1982

Saint Fatima School begins.

Sister city relationship established with New York City, United States.

1984

Master Plan for Greater Cairo approved.

Arab Democratic Nasserist Party founded.

1985

Child Museum opens.

Sister city relationship established with Paris, France.

1986 - February: 1986 Egyptian conscripts riot occurs.

1987 - Cairo Metro Line 1 begins operating.

1988

Cairo Opera House opens.

Sister city relationship established with Istanbul, Turkey.

1989

al-Hirafiyeen neighborhood built.

Sister city relationship established with Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

1990

The American International School in Egypt opens.

Sister city relationship established with Beijing, China and Tokyo, Japan.

1991 - Al-Ahram Weekly begins publication.

1992 - Earthquake.

1993 - Sister city relationship established with Barcelona, Spain.

1995 - Dreamland development begins near city.

1996

6th October Bridge built.

Cairo Metro Line 2 (Shoubra AlKheiman- AlMounieb) opened.

1997

Aldiwan Arabic Language Center opens.

Sister city relationship established with Xi'an, China and Seoul, South Korea.

1998 - Sister city relationships established with Houston, United States and Minsk, Belarus.

2000s

2001

Misr American College established.

Cairo 52 arrested.

2003 - El Sawy culturewheel built.

2004

Al-masry Al-youm newspaper begins publication.

Canadian International College established.

Abdul Azim Wazir becomes governor of Cairo (approximate date).

2005

April 2005 Cairo terrorist attacks

British University in Egypt established.

Al-Azhar Park built.

El Fagr newspaper begins publication.

2006

City government website online (approximate date).

Al-Resalah television begins broadcasting.

2007

City hosts 11th Pan Arab Games.

57357 Hospital established.

2008 - Youm 7 newspaper starts publication.

2009

2009 Khan el-Khalili bombing

Cairo Jazz Festival begins.

2010s

2010 – Population: 7,248,671.

2011

25 January: Uprising against Mubarak regime begins.

April: Abdel Qawi Khalifa becomes governor of Cairo.

2012

Cairo Metro Line 3 (Imbaba / Mohandiseen - Cairo Int'l Airport) opened.

Pope Shenouda III, head of Egyptian Coptic church, died.

Protests against state president Mohamed Morsi.

2013

Anti-Morsi protests.

February: The first Iranian president, Ahmadinejad, to visit Egypt since 1979.

April: Violence against Coptic after funeral.

3 July: 2013 Egyptian coup d'état.

8 July: "Egyptian soldiers fire on Morsi supporters protesting outside a military facility in Cairo, killing over 50."

14 August: "More than 600 people, mostly Morsi supporters, are killed when police clear two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo."

Air pollution in greater Cairo reaches annual mean of 76 PM2.5 and 179 PM10, much higher than recommended.