Timeline of Besançon
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Besançon, France.
Prior to 19th century
- 58 BCE - Julius Caesar occupied Vesontio, the chief town of the Sequani.
- 1st C. CE – built on outskirts of in.
- 175 CE – built.
- 4th C. – Roman Catholic diocese of Besançon active.
- 11th C. – built.
- 1184 - Frederick I made it a free imperial city.
- 1393 – Hôtel de Ville built.
- 1487 – Printing press in operation.
- 1537 – adopted.
- 1540 – built by Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle.
- 1573 – Hôtel de Ville rebuilt.
- 1668 – Citadel of Besançon construction begins.
- 1674 – Siege of Besançon.
- 1676 – Parlement of Besançon established.
- 1678 – Besançon becomes part of France per Treaty of Nijmegen.
- 1694 - Bibliothèque municipale de Besançon founded.
- 1749 – rebuilt.
- 1751 - Birth of Marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans, inventor of steam-navigation.
- 1752 – founded.
- 1766 – St. Madeleine Church built.
- 1786 – built.
- 1790 – Besançon becomes part of the Doubs souveraineté.
- 1793 – Population: 25,328.
- 1796 – Departmental archives of Doubs established.
19th century
- 1802 – 26 February: Birth of Victor Hugo, writer.
- 1814 – Besançon besieged by Austrian forces.
- 1818 – Besançon municipal library building opens.
- 1819 – Chamber of Commerce established.
- 1831 – Fort Beauregard built.
- 1833 – Rhone–Rhine Canal opens.
- 1843 – created.
- 1850 – laid out.
- 1854 – Fountain installed in the.
- 1856 – Railway begins operating.
- 1871 – A project of Besançon Commune is engaged.
- 1876 – Population: 54,404.
- 1883 – newspaper in publication.
- 1888 – founded.
- 1892 – Besançon-les-Bains built.
- 1893 – opens.
- 1896 – Dépêche Républicaine newspaper begins publication.
- 1897 – Besançon tramway begins operating.
- 1899 – Société d'histoire naturelle du Doubs established.
- 1900 – Fountain built on the Place Jean-Cornet.
20th century
- 1902 – Victor Hugo statue erected on the Promenade Granvelle.
- 1903 – Eclair Comtois newspaper begins publication.
- 1906 - Population: 56,168.
- 1910 – January 1910 Doubs river flood.
- 1911 – Population: 57,978.
- 1945 – Jean Minjoz becomes mayor.
- 1948 – Besançon International Music Festival begins.
- 1951 – International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors begins.
- 1953 – Battant Bridge rebuilt.
- 1954 – Population: 73,445.
- 1957 – Botanical garden established at Place Leclerc.
- 1960 – Planoise redevelopment process begins.
- 1964 – Gare de Besançon-Viotte rebuilt.
- 1968 – Population: 113,220.
- 1970 – Besançon courthouse attack.
- 1972
- * established.
- * Francis of Assisi Church built.
- 1975 – Population: 120,315.
- 1977 – becomes mayor.
- 1983 – Jean Minjoz Hospital opens.
- 1994 – established.
21st century
- 2001 – Jean-Louis Fousseret becomes mayor.
- 2002 – opens.
- 2005 – 3 November: 2005 Planoise Forum fire.
- 2010 – 13 December: School hostage crisis.
- 2011 – Population: 115,879.
- 2014 – 30 August: commissioning of the Besançon tramway.
- 2015 – December: held.
- 2016 – Besançon becomes part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.
- 2001 – Anne Vignot becomes mayor.