Timeline of Brussels

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Brussels, Belgium.

This is an incomplete list that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 18th century

Part of a series on the
History of Belgium
Prehistory Neolithic flint mines of Spiennes 4300–2200 BC
Ancient Belgae, Eburones & Treveri ~51 BC Gallic Wars 58–50 BC  • Ambiorix's revolt 54–53 BC Roman rule 51 BC–c.500 AD
Early Middle Ages Franks   Merovingians 481–751 Carolingians 751–987 Prince-Bishopric of Liège 980–1789
Middle Ages Franco-Flemish War 1297–1305 Burgundian rule 1384–1482  • Wars of Liège 1465–68 Habsburg rule 1482–1556
Early Modern Northern Renaissance 15th–16th century Spanish rule 1556–1714  • Seventeen Provinces 1549–81  • Dutch Revolt 1568–1648 Austrian rule 1714–93  • Brabant Revolution 1789–90  • Liège Revolution 1789–91 French rule 1793–1815
19th century Dutch rule 1815–30 Belgian Revolution 1830–31 Reign of Leopold I 1831–65  • Treaty of London 1839 Reign of Leopold II 1865–1909  • School War 1879–84  • Congo Free State 1885–1908
20th and 21st centuries Belgian Congo 1908–60 Reign of Albert I 1909–34 World War I 1914–18  • Invasion 1914  • Atrocities 1914  • German occupation 1914–18 Ruanda-Urundi 1922–62 Reign of Leopold III 1934–51 World War II 1940–45  • Invasion 1940  • German occupation 1940–44  • Holocaust 1941–44 Royal Question 1944–50 Reign of Baudouin 1951–93 Reign of Albert II 1993–2013 Reign of Philippe 2013~
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• 1273 – St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral built (approximate date).^[1]
• 1304 – Notre Dame du Sablon founded.^[2]
• 1348 – Ommegang begins.
• 1356
  • Joyous Entry.
  • Expansion of fortifications begins.
• 1370 – the Brussels massacre, a pogrom against the city's Jewish population, occurs
• 1381 – Halle Gate built.
• 1393 – Anderlecht becomes part of Brussels.
• 1420 – Town Hall built.
• 1455 – Chapelle du Saint-Sacrement de Miracle built.
• 1536 – King's House built by Duke of Brabant.
• 1581 – City becomes capital of Spanish Netherlands.
• 1619 – Bronze Manneken Pis statue installed.
• 1695 – The city is bombarded by the French.

18th century

• 1700 – The Monnaie theatre built.
• 1731 – Palace of Coudenberg destroyed.
• 1746 – Siege of Brussels.
• 1772 - Imperial and Royal Academy of Science and Letters established.^[3]
• 1774 – Rue Royale laid out.^[2]
• 1775 – Brussels Park laid out.
• 1787 – Vauxhall opens.
• 1783 – Royal Palace of Brussels construction begins.
• 1787 – Church of Saint Jacques-sur-Coudenberg consecrated.
• 1795 – City becomes part of Dyle.

19th century

• 1803 – Museum of Brussels opens.^[4]
• 1815
  • Duchess of Richmond's ball.
  • City becomes capital of South Brabant, United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
• 1819 – New opera theatre inaugurated.
• 1826 – Botanical Garden founded.
• 1830 – Belgian Revolution.
• 1832 – Royal Conservatory of Brussels founded.
• 1834 – Free University of Brussels founded
• 1835 – Groendreef/Allée Verte railway station, Belgium's first, is inaugurated.
• 1846
  • Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences founded.
  • Population: 123,874.^[5]
• 1847
  • Avenue Louise commissioned.
  • Galerie du Roi, Galerie de la Reine and Galerie du Prince open.
• 1848 - International Peace Congress held.
• 1855 – Brussels-Luxembourg railway station built.
• 1856 – Théatre Royal de la Monnaie opens.
• 1859 – Congress Column erected.
• 1861 – Bois de la Cambre laid out.
• 1869 – Trams begin operating.
• 1871 – Covering of the Senne.
• 1877 – Ixelles Cemetery created.
• 1880 – Cinquantenaire created.
• 1885
  • Église Royale Sainte-Marie built.
  • Population: 171,751.^[5]
• 1887 – Palais des Beaux-Arts built.
• 1891 - August: International Socialist Labor Congress held in Brussels.
• 1893 - Paris-Brussels Cycle Race begins.^[6]
• 1895
  • Royal Greenhouses of Laeken built.
  • Hotel Metropole, Brussels in business at Place de Brouckère .
• 1897 – Brussels International world's fair held.

20th century

• 1900
  • Cantillon Brewery founded.
  • Hospital Saint-Jean built.^[7] founded.
• 1901 – Maison & Atelier Horta built.
• 1905
  • Cauchie house built.
  • Cinquantenaire's triumphal arch finished.
• 1908 – Chapel of the Resurrection built.
• 1910 – Brussels International world's fair held.
• 1911 - Solvay Conference held in city.
• 1914 – World War I: Brussels captured and occupied by the German Army.
• 1917 – Constant Vanden Stock Stadium opens.
• 1919 - Population: 685,268 metro.^[8]
• 1920 – Oscar Bossaert Stadium opens.
• 1921 – Haren, Laeken, and Neder-Over-Heembeek, merged into the City of Brussels.
• 1922 – Société du Palais des Beaux-Arts formed.
• 1923 – Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military History opens.
• 1927 – Solvay Conference held.
• 1930 – Jubilee Stadium opens.
• 1931 – Brussels Symphony Orchestra founded.
• 1935
  • Brussels International Exposition held.
  • Basilica of the Sacred Heart consecrated.
• 1937 – Queen Elisabeth Music Competition begins.
  

  Scenes of jubilation as British troops liberate Brussels, 4 September 1944
• 1939 – Constantin Meunier Museum opens.
• 1940 – World War II: German Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France headquartered in Brussels.
• 1944
  • 3–4 September: Liberation of Brussels by the Welsh Guards; Palace of Justice burnt by Germans to destroy legal records during their retreat.
  • 8 September: Belgian government in exile returns to Brussels after four years in London.
  • A de jure District of Brussels formed by Nazi Germany, which is now no longer in control of the territory.
• 1948
  • Treaty of Brussels signed.
  • Brussels Airport opens.
• 1949 – NATO headquarters established.
• 1952 – Brussels-Central railway station and Brussels-South railway station open.
• 1958
  • Brussels World's Fair Expo 58 held.
  • The Atomium is built.
• 1960 – City hosts Congolese Round Table Conference.
• 1967 – L'Innovation Department Store fire.
• 1969 – Free University of Brussels splits along linguistic lines into Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
• 1971 – Flower carpet in Grand Place begins.
• 1974 – Brussels International Independent Film Festival begins.
• 1975 - Université catholique de Louvain's Jardin des plantes médicinales Paul Moens established.
• 1976 – Brussels Metro begins operating.
• 1978 – Brussels Ring constructed.
• 1980
  • Flemish Community and French Community of Belgium each designate Brussels as capital city.
  • Population of Brussels-Capital Region: 1,008,715.^[9]
• 1985 – Heysel Stadium disaster.
• 1988 – Kinepolis Brussels opens.
• 1989
  • Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region,^[10] Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region, and Belgian Comic Strip Center established.
  • Mini-Europe opens.
• 1990 – Population of Brussels-Capital Region: 964,385.^[9]
• 1993 – Espace Léopold opens.
• 1994
  • City of Brussels designated capital of Belgium and seat of federal government.^[11]
  • Freddy Thielemans becomes mayor.^[12]
• 1996 – Belgacom Towers built.
• 1998 – Ancienne Belgique renovated.

21st century

• 2000
  • Zinneke Parade begins.
  • Musical Instrument Museum relocates.
• 2004 – North Galaxy Towers built.
• 2006 – Atomium renovated.
• 2007 - Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel established.^[13]
• 2009 – Magritte Museum opens.
• 2010 – Population of Brussels-Capital Region: 1,089,538.^[9]

See also

• List of mayors of the City of Brussels (largest municipality in the Brussels-Capital Region)
• List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region
• Timeline of Antwerp

References

Further reading

Published in the 17th-19th century

• "Brussel". Topographia Circuli Burgundici. Topographia Germaniae (in German). Frankfurt. 1654. p. 44+. 
• New Picture of Brussels, and its Environs, or, Stranger's Guide to the Curiosities of that Interesting City, London: Samuel Leigh, 1820, OCLC 63579821 
• David Brewster, ed. (1830). "Brussels". Edinburgh Encyclopædia. Edinburgh: William Blackwood. 
• "Brussels", Cabinet Cyclopædia, Cities and Principal Towns of the World, London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, 1830, OCLC 2665202 
• "Brussels", A hand-book for travellers on the continent (2nd ed.), London: John Murray, 1838, OCLC 2030550 
• Frederick Knight Hunt (1845), "Brussels", The Rhine: its scenery & historical & legendary associations, London: Jeremiah How 
• "Brussels". Coghlan's Illustrated Guide to the Rhine (18th ed.). London: Trubner & Co. 1863. 
• Stranger's Guide to Brussels and its environs (6th ed.), Kiessling & Co., 1876 
• W. Pembroke Fetridge (1885), "Brussels to Antwerp", Harper's hand-book for travellers in Europe and the east, New York: Harper & Brothers 

Published in the 20th century

• Ernest Gilliat-Smith (1906), The story of Brussels, London: Dent 
• "Brussels", Belgium and Holland, including the grand-duchy of Luxembourg, Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1910, OCLC 397759 

Published in the 21st century

• Anton Kreukels et al., eds. (2005). "Brussels". Metropolitan Governance and Spatial Planning: Comparative Case Studies of European City-Regions. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-49606-8.  CS1 maint: Explicit use of et al. (link)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brussels.

• "History of Brussels: chronology". City of Brussels. 
• Europeana. Items related to Brussels, various dates.