Timeline of Cambridge, Massachusetts

17th century

1630 - English settlers arrive.

1632 - First Parish meeting house built.

1636 - The "New College" founded.

1638

Newe Towne renamed "Cambridge."

John Harvard, a Puritan minister, bequeaths his library and half his monetary estate to the college.

1639 - New College renamed Harvard College for benefactor John Harvard.

1640 - Bay Psalm Book printed.

1642 - Harvard holds its first commencement.

1662 - Great Bridge built.

1663 - Algonquin-language Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God published.

1682 - Cooper-Frost-Austin House built (date approximate).

1685 - Hooper-Lee-Nichols House built.

1688 - Cambridge Village, later renamed Newton, separated from Cambridge.

18th century

1713 - Town of Lexington separated from Cambridge.

1720 - Harvard's Massachusetts Hall built.

1727 - William Brattle House built.

1759

Christ Church congregation founded.

Vassall House built.

1760 - Apthorp House built.

1767 - Elmwood (residence) built.

1775

April 18: William Dawes traverses the town en route to sounding warnings on eve of Battles of Lexington and Concord.

April 19: Skirmishes between retreating British troops and American patriots at Watson's Corner and elsewhere in North Cambridge.

May 12: The New-England Chronicle in publication.

July 3: George Washington takes command of American army.

1780 - May 19: New England's Dark Day.

1782 - Harvard Medical School founded.

1793 - West Boston Bridge built.

1796 - Fresh Pond Hotel built.

1800s–1840s

1800 - Printer William Hilliard in business.

1805 - Harvard Botanic Garden founded.

1807

Cambridge and Concord Turnpike opens.

Little Cambridge separates from Cambridge and is renamed Brighton.

West Cambridge, later renamed Arlington, separated from Cambridge.

1809 - Craigie's Bridge opens.

1814 - Cambridge Humane Society and Female Humane Society founded.

1815 - Harvard's University Hall built.

1816 - Middlesex County Courthouse (Massachusetts) built.

1817 - Harvard Law School founded.

1818 - New England Glass Company established.

1824 - East Cambridge Charitable Society formed.

1826 - Frederic Tudor and Nathaniel Wyeth begin harvesting ice at Fresh Pond.

1827 - First Evangelical Congregational church and Second Baptist Church established.

1830 - Population: 6,072.

1831

Mount Auburn Cemetery founded.

Cambridge Market Hotel (later Porter's Hotel) built.

1832 - Cambridge Fire Department established.[2]

1833

Hunt & Co's Circulating Library in business.

First Parish meeting house built, corner Church St. and Mass. Ave.

1835 - West Cambridge Social Library active.

1837

August 31: Emerson gives "American Scholar" speech.

East Cambridge Anti-Slavery Society formed.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow moves to Craigie House.

1839

Hopkins Classical School established.

Harvard College Observatory founded.

1840

Cambridge Magnolia begins publication.

St. John's Mutual Relief Society organized.

Population: 8,409.

1841 - Cambridge Lyceum organized.

1846

Cambridge Chronicle begins publication.

Stickney-Shepard House built.

Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad begins operating.

Alvan Clark & Sons telescope maker in business.

City chartered.

James D. Green becomes mayor.

Population: 12,500.

1847 - Great Refractor telescope installed.

1848 - Franklin Library Association founded.

1849 - Cambridge Athenaeum incorporated.

1850s–1890s

1850 - Howard Benevolent Society organized.

1852

Cambridge Water Works Corporation chartered.

Riverside Press established.

1854 - Cambridge Cemetery consecrated.

1856 - Population: 20,473.

1857

Cambridge Circulating Library in business.

Walden Street Cattle Pass built.

1858 - Harvard Glee Club founded.

1859 - Museum of Comparative Zoology founded.

1860 - Cambridge Horticultural Society organized.

1861 - Veterans' Services established.

1862 - Sanitary Society active (approximate date).

1865 - Old Cambridge Mutual Relief Society organized.

1866

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and New Church Theological School founded.

Cambridge Press newspaper begins publication.

1867 - Episcopal Theological School founded.

1868 - Cambridge Mechanics Literary Association organized.

1869

Old Cambridge Baptist Church built on Harvard Street.

North Cambridge Choral Society organized.

1870 - Soldiers' Monument dedicated on Cambridge Common

1871

Cambridge Social Union founded.

Alpha Glee Club organized.

1872 - Cambridge Choral Society formed.

1873

The Harvard Crimson newspaper begins publication.

Basket Club formed.

1875

Church of the Ascension organized.

Kennedy Steam Bakery built.

Population: 47,838.

1876 - Harvard Lampoon begins publication.

1877 - Harvard's Memorial Hall built.

1878

The Cambridge Tribune newspaper begins publication.[3]

Harvard's Sever Hall built.

1879 - Cambridge Public Library established.

1880 - Population: 52,669.

1881 - Cambridge Club active.

1882

Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women incorporated.

Harvard Cooperative founded.

1883

Cambridge YMCA opens.

Browne & Nichols School founded.

1884 - Odd Fellows Hall built.

1886 - Cambridge Hospital, Cambridge English High School (Broadway & Fayette St.), Cambridge Latin School (Lee St.), and Cambridge School for Girls established.

1887 - Cambridgeport Cycle Club organized.

1889

City Hall, Brattle Hall, and William James' house built.

Buckingham School founded.

Cambridge Plant Club established.

1890 - Population: 70,028.

1891 - Harvard Bridge built.

1892 - Old Cambridge Photographic Club formed.

1893 - Road built around Fresh Pond.

1894

Radcliffe College chartered.

Cambridge Walking Club founded.

1895

Lechmere Canal built.

Keezer's clothier in business.

W. E. B. Du Bois earns PhD from Harvard University.

1896 - Cambridge Political Equality Association established.

1897 - Cambridge Skating Club founded.

1900s–1940s

1900 - Population: 91,886.

1901 - Swedenborg Chapel built.

1903

Cambridge Sentinel newspaper begins publication.

Busch–Reisinger Museum opens.

1904 - Harvard's Phillips Brooks House Association established.

1905 - Cambridge Historical Society founded.

1906 - Longfellow Bridge opens.

1908

Andover Theological Seminary relocates to city.

Harvard's Business School established.

1909 - Lesley School founded.

1910 - Harvard Square Business Association founded.

1911 - Cambridge Housing Association formed.

1912 - Kendall/MIT (MBTA station), Central (MBTA station), and Harvard (MBTA station) open.

1913

Harvard University Press and Harvard Legal Aid Bureau established.

Cohen harness maker in business.

1914 - Cambridge Planning Board established.

1915

Anderson Memorial Bridge and Harvard's Widener Library built.

Cooperative Open Air School founded.

1916

Massachusetts Institute of Technology moves to Cambridge

Tasty Sandwich Shop in business.

1917

Wursthaus restaurant in business.

Arthur D. Little Inc., Building constructed.

1923 - Washington Elm dies on Cambridge Common.

1924 - The Church of St. Paul (Harvard Square) built.

1926 - Harvard Square Theater opens.

1927

John W. Weeks Bridge built.

Necco factory opens on Massachusetts Avenue.

Grolier Poetry Bookshop and Mac-Gray Corp. in business.

1928 - Boston University Bridge built.

1929 - Cambridge Community Center founded.

1930

First Church of Christ, Scientist built.

Longy School of Music moves to Cambridge.

Russian bells installed in Harvard's Lowell House.

1932

Harvard Book Store and MIT's Technology Press established.

Harvard's Memorial Church built.

1936 - Harvard's Graduate School of Public Administration and Graduate School of Design established.

1938

Hayes-Bickford Cafeteria in business (approximate date).

Harvard's Nieman Foundation for Journalism established.

1940 - National Research Corporation in business.

1941

Magazine of Cambridge begins publication.

Harvard's Houghton Library built.

1942 - John B. Atkinson becomes city manager.

1945 - Cambridge Civic Unity Committee established.

1945 - Irving House established.

1946 - WMIT begins broadcasting.

1947

September 9: Computer bug found at the Harvard Computation Lab.

Demise of the Harvard Botanic Garden.

Edgerton, Germeshausen, and Grier in business.

1950s–1970s

1950

Cardullo's Gourmet Shop in business.

Joseph DeGuglielmo becomes mayor.

1951

Fresh Pond Drive-In opens.

WHRB incorporated.

1952

John J. Curry becomes city manager.

MIT School of Industrial Management and MIT Center for International Studies established.

1953

Brattle Theatre begins screening movies.

Harvard Model United Nations conference begins.

1954 - Wang Laboratories, Cheapo Records, and Hong Kong restaurant in business.

1955

Out of Town News, Casablanca bar, Elsie's eatery and Ferranti-Dege camera store in business.

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory relocated to Cambridge.

1957

Cambridge Buddhist Association established.

Pangloss Bookstore in business.

1958

Club 47 (music venue) opens.

Joyce Chen restaurant and Chez Jean restaurant in business.

Lisp (programming language) invented at MIT.

Smoot measurement established.

1959

Café Pamplona in business.

Harvard/MIT Center for Urban Studies and MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory established.

1960

Bartley’s restaurant in business.

Harvard's Let's Go travel guides begin publication.

1961

Julia Child moves to Cambridge.

October 14: Fire destroys the original WGBH television and radio studios, at MIT.

1962

Temple Beth Shalom founded.

Fresh Pond Shopping Center built.

Cambridge Electron Accelerator in operation.

Harvard's Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts built.

Cambridge Seven Associates in business.

Cambridge Sports Union founded.

1963 - Cambridge Historical Commission established.

1964 - NASA Electronics Research Center established.

1965 - Head of the Charles Regatta established.

1966 - Cambridge School Volunteers founded.[4]

1967

Joseph DeGuglielmo becomes city manager.

Cambridge Forum, MIT's Center for Advanced Visual Studies established.

1968

Cambridge Housing Convention active.

Shrdlu computer program developed at MIT.

1969

Student antiwar protest.

Union of Concerned Scientists, and Harvard's Institute for African and African-American Research founded.

Passim and Plough and Stars in business.

1970

The Middle East restaurant opens.

Rent control and Massachusetts Department of Transportation Volpe Center established.

Alfred Vellucci becomes mayor.

1971

Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services established.

Grendel's Den pub in business.

Revels performance series begins.

1972

Broadway Bicycle School in business.

Longfellow National Historic Site and Cambridge Women's Center established.

Harvard's Gund Hall built.

October: Protest in East Cambridge against police conduct.

1973

Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics established.

Draper Laboratory active.

T.T. the Bear's Place and Hacker's Haven car repair shop in business.

1974

Cambridge Food Co-op, city Arts Council, city Community Development Department, and Buckingham Browne & Nichols school established.

James Sullivan becomes city manager.

Cambridge Naturals in business.

1975 - Coffee Connection in business.

1977

Cambridge Rindge and Latin School formed.

River Festival begins.

Changsho restaurant in business.

1978

National Bureau of Economic Research active.

Formaggio Kitchen in business.

1979 - Harvard's Film Archive opens.

1980s–1990s

1980

American Repertory Theater and MIT's PiKa housing cooperative established.

MIT Museum active.

1981

American Academy of Arts and Sciences moves to Cambridge.

Cambridge College active.

Robert W. Healy becomes city manager.

Cambridge Center complex construction begins.

1982

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research founded.

Biogen, Toscanini's, and Upstairs at the Pudding restaurant in business.

Sister city relationships established with Coimbra, Portugal, and Gaeta, Italy.

1983

Harvard Square Homeless Shelter and Albert Einstein Institution established.

Monitor Group and Cambridge Energy Research Associates headquartered in Cambridge.

Sister city relationships established with Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki, Japan; and Dublin, Ireland.

Pegasystems Inc. and Forrester Research in business.

Premiere of Marsha Norman's play Night, Mother.

1984

MIT Media Lab, Institute for Resource and Security Studies, and city Police Review & Advisory Board established.

Sister city relationship established with Ischia, Italy.

Porter MBTA Red Line station opens.

Conflict Management Group headquartered in city.

Thinking Machines Corporation and Charles Hotel in business.

1985

Alewife (MBTA station) opens.

Harvard's Arthur M. Sackler Museum built.

Dante Alighieri Society building inaugurated.

Memorial Drive partially pedestrianized along Riverbend Park.

1986

Garment District (clothing retailer) in business.

Thinking Machines' Connection Machine invented.

MIT flea market begins.

1987

Sister city relationships established with Yerevan, Armenia; San José Las Flores, Chalatenango, El Salvador; and Catania, Italy.

Cambridge becomes a Peace Messenger City.

Catch a Rising Star in business.

Joseph P. Kennedy II becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 8th congressional district.

1988 - Cambridge Community Television and Cambridge Eviction Free Zone established.

1989

Cambridge Sane/Freeze active.

Sister city relationship established with Kraków, Poland.

1990

CambridgeSide Galleria built.

Sapient Corporation in business.[5]

1991

City Bicycle Committee and Ig Nobel Prize established.

MÄK Technologies in business.[6]

1992

Boston Dynamics (robotics firm) and Dewey, Cheetham & Howe in business.

Kenneth Reeves becomes mayor.

Sister city relationship established with Florence, Italy.

1993

City master plan published.

MIT's The Tech newspaper web edition begins publication.

Timothy J. Toomey, Jr. becomes state representative for 29th Middlesex district.

1994

Islamic Society of Boston mosque opens.

Rialto restaurant in business.

1995

Kendall Square Cinema opens.

Porter Square Neighbors Association formed.

Cybersmith and Phoenix Landing (music venue) in business.

1996

Cambridge Health Alliance and On The Rise nonprofit established.

City Dance Party begins.

Sheila Russell becomes mayor.

1997

City website online.

Cambridge Civic Journal begins publication.

Sister city relationship established with Galway, Ireland.

French-American International School active.

1998

Akamai Technologies in business.

MIT's Center for Reflective Community Practice active.

Francis Duehay becomes mayor.

Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society founded.

1999

Cambridge Innovation Center in business.

Mike Capuano becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 8th congressional district.

21st century

2000

Zipcar in business.

Anthony Galluccio becomes mayor.

MIT's Kismet (robot) introduced.

2001

Veggie Planet and Oleana in business.

New water treatment plant at Fresh Pond opens.

2002 - Michael A. Sullivan becomes mayor.

2003

Novartis research division headquartered in city.

Longwood Players (theatre group) active.

MIT's Poverty Action Lab and Harvard's Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation founded.

Sister city relationship established with Santo Domingo Oeste, Dominican Republic.

2004

Broad Institute, Community Charter School of Cambridge, and ActBlue (nonprofit) established.

MIT's Stata Center built.

Lorem Ipsum bookshop in business.

Sister city relationship established with Southwark, London, England.

Cambridge Somerville Resource Guide begins publication.

February 4: Facebook launched at Harvard College.

2005

Papercut Zine Library opens.

Cambridge Local First network organized.

Sister city relationships established with Cienfuegos, Cuba; Yuseong, Daejeon, Korea; and Haidian, Beijing, China.

Cambridge Day begins publication.

Patricia D. Jehlen becomes state senator for 2nd Middlesex district.

2006

Green Decade Cambridge incorporated.

Kenneth Reeves becomes mayor again.

Harvard's Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston established.

HubSpot in business.

2007

Microsoft New England Research & Development Center opens.

Cambridge Science Festival begins.

MIT's Center for Future Civic Media established.

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee headquartered in Cambridge.

Anthony Petruccelli becomes state senator for 1st Suffolk and Middlesex district.

2008

Alliance of Cambridge Tenants, and Google Inc. branch established.

ImprovBoston moves to Cambridge.

Sofra bakery and Hungry Mother restaurant in business.

Harvard Square Library incorporated.

E. Denise Simmons becomes mayor.

ROFLCon meme convention begins.

Central Square Theater built.

Jon Hecht elected state representative for 29th Middlesex district.

2009

July: Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy

West Cambridge Youth and Community Center opens.

Kendall Square Association established.

Cambridge Open Studios active.[7]

Trader Joe's grocery in business at Fresh Pond.

2010

David Maher becomes mayor.

Population: 105,162; metro 4,552,402.

Sal DiDomenico becomes state senator for Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex district.

2011

January 6: Aaron Swartz arrested.

Area Four restaurant, Veggie Galaxy restaurant and Danger!awesome in business.

2012

MIT/Harvard edX launched.

Henrietta Davis becomes mayor.

Hack/reduce nonprofit founded.

Sinclair and Amazon office in business.

2013

Richard Rossi becomes city manager.

Cambridge Open Data Ordinance drafted.

Cambridge Happenings in publication.

April 18–19: MIT officer killed; Boston Marathon bombings suspects manhunt takes place.

November: Municipal election.

December: Katherine Clark becomes U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 5th congressional district.

Marjorie Decker becomes state representative for 25th Middlesex district, Dave Rogers becomes state representative for 24th Middlesex district, and Jay Livingstone becomes state representative for 8th Suffolk district.

Kensho Technologies in business.

2014

City open data portal launched.

H Mart grocery and Alden & Harlow restaurant in business.

David Maher becomes mayor again.

2015

January 2015 North American blizzard.

September 6: Lawrence Lessig presidential campaign, 2016 headquartered in city.

December 3: Fire.