Timeline of Cairo
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Cairo, Egypt.
Prior to 19th century
- 1st C. BCE – Babylon Fortress built.
- 33 CE – Origins of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
- 4th–5th C. CE – Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga) built.
- 6th C. – Church of Saint Menas established.
- 642 – Mosque of Amr ibn al-As built.
- 873 – Ahmad ibn Tulun founds El-Katai.
- 879
- * Mosque of Ibn Tulun built.
- * Church of St. George built.
- * Church of the Virgin Mary (Haret Zuweila) built.
- 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.
- 979 – Coptic Cairo rebuilt.
- 992 – Al-Hakim Mosque built.
- 11th C. – 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.
- 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.
- 1176 – Cairo was unsuccessfully attacked in the Crusades.
- 1183 – Saladin Citadel built.
- ca.1205 – Harat el-Yahoud Synagogue rebuilt and Maimonides works there; it is rebuilt in the 19th century as the Maimonides Synagogue
- 1250 – City becomes capital of Mamluk Sultanate.
- 1280 – Qalawun complex built.
- 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.
- 1800 – Population: 200,000.
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' al-Masriyya newspaper begins publication.
- * Dar al-Mahfuzat established.
- 1848 – Mosque of Muhammad Ali built.
- 1854 – Khorenian School begins.
- 1856 – Railway station built.
- 1863 – Museum of Egyptian antiquities founded at Bulak.
- 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.
- 1877 – Traffic in slaves ceased.
- 1879 – Collège de la Sainte Famille founded
- 1880 – Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l'Art Arabe established.
- 1882
- * British occupation.
- * Khedivial Sporting Club founded.
- * Population: 347,838.
- 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.
- * Population: 570,062.
- 1899
- * Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue built
- * Al-Ahram newspaper headquartered in Cairo.
- 1900 – Ets Hayim Synagogue established
20th century
1900s–1940s
- 1902 – Museum of Egyptian antiquities moved again.
- 1905 – Chaar Hachamaim Synagogue established
- 1906 – Pathé cinema built.
- 1907
- * Al Ahly Sporting Club formed.
- * Population: 654,476.
- 1908
- * Cairo University and Café Riche opened.
- * 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.
- * "Cairo Edition" of Quran Published
- 1925 – Pahad Itzhak 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 Synagogue established
- 1937
- * 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.
- * The Arab Women's Congress of 1944 is hosted by the Egyptian Feminist Union in Cairo and the Pan-Arabian Arab Feminist Union is founded.
- 1945
- * Arab League headquartered in Cairo.
- * Ashkènazim Synagogue restored
- 1946 – Ali Baba Cinema opens.
- 1947 – Population: 2,090,654.
- 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 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 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.
- 1974 – Population: 5,715,000.
- 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.
- * Population: 6,800,000.
- 1993
- * Asyut–Cairo highway constructed.
- * Sister city relationship established with Barcelona, Spain.
- 1995 – Dreamland development begins near city.
- 1996
- *6th October Bridge built.
- * Cairo Metro Line 2 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.
21st century
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.
- 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.
- * 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 opened.
- *Heliopolis Palace incident
- *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.
- 2017 – Population: 9,539,673.