Timeline of Liverpool

Prior to 18th century

1089. The West Derby Hundred is recorded in the Domesday Book

1207 Liverpool founded by King John.

Market active.

1292 – John De More becomes mayor.

1298 – Liverpool fair active.

1349 - The Black Death Plague hits Liverpool.

1424 - Riots between the rival Stanley and Molyneux families near Liverpool Castle.

1598 – Speke Hall (house) built.

1662 – Population: 775.

1644 – Town besieged by forces of Prince Rupert of the Rhine.

1674 – Town Hall rebuilt.

18th century

1700

Liverpool Merchant slave ship begins operating.

Population: 5,714.

1702 – Croxteth Hall (house) built.

1704 – Woolton Hall (house) built.

1708 – Blue Coat School founded.

1717 – Bluecoat Chambers built.

1718 – Blue Coat hospital opens.

1720 – Population: 10,446.

1722 – Ranelagh Gardens open.

1749 – Royal Infirmary opens.

1753 – Salthouse Dock opens.

1754 – Liverpool Town Hall built.

1756 – Liverpool Advertiser newspaper begins publication.

1758 – Circulating library established.

1766 - City directory published.

1771

Bidston lighthouse built.

George's Dock opens.

1772 – Theatre built.

1779 – Medical Library founded.

1784 - Liverpool Musical Festival begins.

1788 – St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church built.

1790

Lime Street laid out.

Consulate of the United States, Liverpool established.

1791 – School for the Blind founded.

1792 – Trinity Church consecrated.

1797 – Liverpool Athenaeum founded.

1800s-1840s

1801 – Population: 77,653.

1802 – Liverpool Library founded.

1803 – Botanical Gardens open.

1805 - Extension to Liverpool Town Hall completed providing Main Ballroom and Council Chamber

1807 – Liverpool Cricket Club formed.

1809 – Exchange Buildings constructed.

1810 – Borough Gaol built.

1812 – Literary and Philosophical Society founded.

1815 – Manchester Dock built.

1816 – Leeds and Liverpool Canal constructed.

1817 – Liverpool Royal Institution established.

1822 – Apprentices' Library founded.

1823 – Marine Humane Society founded.

1825 – Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts and Philomathic Society established.

1826 – St James Cemetery laid out.

1827 – Law Society established.

1828 – Borough Sessions House built.

1829 – Canning Dock opens.

1830

Liverpool and Manchester Railway begins operating.

Liver Theatre active.

1831 – Population: 165,175.

1832

Church of St Luke built.

John Swire and Sons in business.

1833 – Zoological gardens open.

1835 – City boundaries expand.

1835 - First elected Town Council replaces Common Council.

1836

Liverpool Anti-Slavery Society active (approximate date).

Literary, Scientific and Commercial Institution and Liverpool Town Borough Police established.

Liverpool Lime Street railway station opens to the public.

1837 – Liverpool Chess Club formed.

1838 – Brougham Institute and Polytechnic Society established.

1839

Customs House built.

Northern Mechanics' Institution and Tradesmen's Institution founded.

1840

Liverpool College and Liverpool Philharmonic Society founded.

Cunard's steamship Britannia sails from Liverpool to Boston.

1842

St. Francis Xavier's College established.

Robertson Gladstone becomes mayor.

1843 – Princes Park laid out.

1844 – Canning Half Tide Dock opens.

1845 – Liverpool Observatory built.

1846 – Albert Dock opens.

1848

Liverpool Financial Reform Association; Architectural and Archaeological Society; and Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire formed.

Cope Bros & Co in business.

Church of Saint Francis Xavier consecrated.

1849 – Philharmonic Hall opens.

1850s-1890s

1850 – Catholic Institute established.

1851

Derby Museum opens.

Balfour Williamson in business.

1852

African Steamship Company in business.

Liverpool Free Public Library and sailors' home open.

Hebrews' Educational Institution founded.

1854 – St George's Hall built.

1855 – February: Economic unrest.

1856 – Lewis's shop in business.

1857 – Mersey Docks & Harbour Board established.

1859 – Thomas Royden & Sons in business.

1860 – William Brown Library and Museum building opens.

1862 – Grand Olympic Festival begins.

1863 – Liverpool Amateur Photographic Association founded.

1864 – Oriel Chambers built.

1866 – Star Music Hall opens.

1867 – Alliance Israélite Universelle branch founded.

1868

Elder Dempster and Company in business.

Newsham Park opens.

1869 – Fowler's Buildings constructed.

1870

Stanley Park opens.

Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas built.

Incorporated Society of Liverpool Accountants formed.

1871 – North Western Hotel built.

1872

Sefton Park opens.

Midland Railway Goods Warehouse built.

1874

Liverpool Central railway station opens.

Liverpool Institute High School for Girls established.

Princes Road Synagogue consecrated.

1877 – Walker Art Gallery opens.

1878 Everton football club founded

1879

Picton Reading Room built.

Liverpool Echo newspaper begins publication.

Salvation Army active.

1880

Liverpool attains city status.

Aigburth Cricket Ground built.

1881 – University College Liverpool chartered.

1884

Anfield (athletic space) opens.

County Sessions House, Gustav Adolf Church, and Picton Clock Tower built.

1886

Mersey Railway Tunnel opens; Mersey Railway (Birkenhead-Liverpool) begins operating.

Liverpool and Birkenhead Women's Peace and Arbitration Association organized.

1887 – Liverpool Muslim Institute founded.

1888 – Shakespeare Theatre opens.

1890

Liverpool Union of Girls' Clubs formed.

Bowes Museum of Japanese Art Work opens.

1892

Goodison Park (athletic field) inaugurated.

Victoria Building, University of Liverpool constructed.

Robert Durning Holt becomes mayor.

Liverpool Football Club formed.

1893 – Liverpool Overhead Railway begins operating.

1895 – City boundaries expand.

1897 – Gregson Memorial Institute built.

1898

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine founded.

White Star Building constructed.

1899 – Liverpool University Press founded.

1900s-1940s

1901 – Population: 684,958.

1902

City boundaries expand.

Sefton Park Gazette begins publication.

1904 Foundation stone of the Anglican Cathedral is laid by King Edward VII.

1906 – Liverpool Cotton Exchange Building constructed.

1907

August: 700th anniversary of city founding.

Dock Office built.

1908 – Meccano Ltd in business.

1909 – June: Catholic-Protestant conflict.

1911

1911 Liverpool general transport strike.

Royal Liver Building constructed.

Rodewald Concert Society founded.

1912 – Lime Street Picture House opens.

1913 – Crane's Music Hall opens.

1914 – Adelphi Hotel opens.

1917

Cunard Building constructed.

Liverpool Commercial Reference Library opens.

1919 – Racial conflict.

1922 – African Churches Mission, and African and West Indian Mission organized.

1925 – Empire Theatre opens.

1930 – Speke Airport begins operating.

1931 – Population 855,688. This would be the peak size of Liverpool's population.

1934 – Queensway Tunnel, Walton Hall Park, and Paramount Theatre open.

1940 – August: Aerial bombing by German forces begins.

1942 – January: Aerial bombing by German forces ends.

1944 – Merseyside Unity Theatre active.

1950s-1990s

1952 – City twinned with Cologne, Germany.

1953 – Liverpool Muslim Society founded.

1957

The Cavern Club opens as a jazz club.

The Quarrymen, a skiffle group which is the predecessor of The Beatles, play their first gigs and Paul McCartney joins them.

1960 – The Beatles pop group first performs under this name, initially as The Beatals.

1961 – Mersey Beat begins publication.

1964 – Everyman Theatre founded.

1967

The Mersey Sound (book) anthology of Liverpool poets published.

Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral built.

1968 – Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive established.

1969

Radio City Tower built.

St. John's Shopping Centre and Clayton Square Shopping Centre in business.

1970 – Harrison Barnard & Co. headquartered in city.

1971 – Kingsway Tunnel opens.

1972 – Seaforth Dock opens near city in the area of Seaforth, Lancashire.

1974

City becomes a metropolitan borough within the newly created metropolitan county of Merseyside; Merseyside County Council established.

Post & Echo Building and New Hall Place constructed.

Al-Rahma Mosque established.

1978 – Construction of the Anglican Cathedral is completed.

1980 – Merseyside Maritime Museum opens.

1981 – July: Toxteth riots.

1984 – International Garden Festival held.

1988 – Tate Liverpool (museum) opens.

1989- Hillsborough Disaster

1991 – Population: 452,450 residents.

1992

Africa Oyé music festival begins.

Liverpool Community College established.

1993

Museum of Liverpool Life opens.

Liverpool Mathew Street Music Festival begins.

1995 – Liverpool dockers' strike begins.

1996 – National Conservation Centre opens.

1998 – Mike Storey becomes Liverpool City Council leader.

1999 – Liverpool Biennial begins.

21st century

2001 – Liverpool Wall of Fame unveiled.

2004

Liverpool Culture Company formed.

Homotopia (festival) begins.

2006 – Liverpool Science Park and Royal Standard art gallery established.

2007

International Slavery Museum opens.

West Tower built.

Liverpool Shakespeare Festival begins.

2008

City designated a European Capital of Culture.

Echo Arena Liverpool, BT Convention Centre, and Liverpool One open.

One Park West and Alexandra Tower built.

2010 – National Oceanography Centre established.

2011 – Museum of Liverpool opens.

2012 – Joe Anderson becomes mayor.