Timeline of Warsaw

The following is a timeline of the history of Warsaw in Poland.

Prior to 19th century

1390 - St. John's Cathedral construction begins.
1413 - Duke Janusz I of Warsaw from the Piast dynasty confirmed and extended the city rights of the Warsaw Old Town.
1529 - Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland held in Warsaw.
1534 - Paper mill established.
1556–1557 - Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland held in Warsaw.
1563–1564 - Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland held in Warsaw.
1566 - Polish diet relocated to Warsaw from Kraków.
1573
* 28 January: Warsaw Confederation signed.
* Sigismund Augustus Bridge built.
1575 - Royal elections in Poland begin in nearby Wola.
1578 - George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach paid homage to King of Poland Stephen Báthory.
1580 - Old City Hall, Warsaw rebuilt.
1596 - Polish royal court relocated to Warsaw from Kraków by Sigismund III Vasa.
1603 - Sigismund Augustus Bridge collapses.
1611
* 29 October: Shuysky Tribute.
* 16 November: John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg paid homage to King of Poland Sigismund III Vasa.
1619 - Royal Castle rebuilt.
1621 - George William, Elector of Brandenburg paid homage to King of Poland Sigismund III Vasa.
1641 - Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg paid homage to King of Poland Władysław IV Vasa.
1643 - Warsaw Arsenal built.
1644 - Sigismund's Column erected in Castle Square.
1647 - Benefiting from Poland's tolerance, Valerianus Magnus publicly performed a vacuum experiment, which contradicted official European science.
1648 - "Flying Dragon" ornithopter of Tito Livio Burattini took to the air.
1655 - City besieged by Swedish forces.
1656 - July: Battle of Warsaw (1656).
1664 - Burattini set up an astronomical observatory in Ujazdów.
1689 - Warsaw becomes capital of Poland.
1702 - City taken by Swedes.
1727 - Saxon Garden opens.
1747 - Załuski Library founded.
1764 - City taken by Russians.
1765 - the Wawel Royal Archive moved to Warsaw and merged with the royal Warsaw Secret Archives.
1775 - Polish 6th Infantry Regiment stationed in Warsaw.
1780 - Polish 3rd Infantry Regiment stationed in Warsaw.
1785 - Jabłonowski Palace built.
1786 - Królikarnia completed.
1788 - Lazienki gardens laid out.
1789 - Polish 11th Infantry Regiment stationed in Warsaw.
1790
* 1st Artillery Brigade of the Polish Crown Army formed and garrisoned in Warsaw.
* 11th Infantry Regiment relocated from Warsaw to Gniezno.
1791 - Praga becomes part of city.
1792
* Polish 9th Infantry Regiment relocated from Łowicz to Warsaw.
* 11th Infantry Regiment relocated from Gniezno back to Warsaw.
* 12 June: Polish 15th Infantry Regiment formed and stationed in Warsaw.
* October: 9th Infantry Regiment relocated from Warsaw to Poznań.
* Tyszkiewicz Palace completed.
1794
* Polish 16th, 17th, 19th and 20th Infantry Regiments formed and stationed in Warsaw.
* Polish 1st Vanguard Regiment stationed in Warsaw.
* 17 April: Warsaw Uprising (1794) begins.
* 4 November: Battle of Praga; city taken by Russians.
1795 - City annexed by Prussia in the Third Partition of Poland.

19th century

1804 - Warsaw Lyceum established.
1806
* City occupied by French forces.
* Polish 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments formed in Warsaw.
1807 - City becomes capital of Duchy of Warsaw.
1809 - April–June: Austrians in power.
1810 - Music School established.
1813 - 8 February: Russians in power.
1815 - City becomes capital of Kingdom of Poland being in a personal union with the Russian Empire.
1816 - University of Warsaw established.
1817 - Warsaw Mercantile Exchange established.
1819 - Museum and Institute of Zoology established.
1830
* Nicolaus Copernicus Monument unveiled.
* November Uprising ; Polish–Russian War 1830–31.
1831 - September: Battle of Warsaw (1831).
1833 - Grand Theatre opens.
1845 - Warsaw–Vienna Railway begins operating.
1857 - Hotel Europejski in business.
1860
* Krasiński Library opens.
* Zachęta founded.
* Population: 161,008.
1862
* Szkoła Główna Warszawska and Museum of Fine Arts established.
* Ha-Tsefirah newspaper begins publication.
1863 - January Uprising.
1865 - Alexander Bridge built.
1866 - Horsecar tram begins operating.
1869 - Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene built in Praga.
1872 - Population: 276,000.
1875 - Sokrates Starynkiewicz becomes mayor.
1878 - Great Synagogue built on Tłomackie Street.
1880 - Evangelical Reformed Parish church built.
1882 - Population: 406,261.
1887 - Population: 436,750.
1897 - Population: 624,189.
1898
* University of Technology opens.
* 24 December: Adam Mickiewicz Monument unveiled.

20th century

1900s–1939

1901
* Warsaw Philharmonic founded.
* Hotel Bristol in business.
* Population: 756,426.
1905 - Unrest. See also Alfonse Pogrom.
1906 - Yidishes tageblat newspaper begins publication.
1907 - Electric streetlights installed.
1908
* Electric streetcar begins operating.
* Iluzjon cinema opens.
1911 - Polonia Warsaw football club founded.
1913
* Hotel Polonia Palace in business.
* Aleksander Kakowski becomes Catholic archbishop.
* Polish Theatre in Warsaw opens.
1914 - Poniatowski Bridge built.
1916
* Wola becomes part of city.
* National Museum active.
1917 - Office for the Regulation and Building of the City established.
1919 - 4–5 January: 1919 Polish coup attempt.
1920 - August: Battle of Warsaw (1920).
1921
* KS Warszawianka football club founded.
* Population: 936,713.
1922 - 17 March: Warsaw Accord signed.
1924 - begins publication.
1925 - Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw established at Piłsudski Square.
1926
* 12–14 May: May Coup (Poland).
* 14 November: Frederic Chopin Monument unveiled.
1927
* AZS Warsaw wins its first Polish ice hockey championship.
* International Chopin Piano Competition begins.
1928 - opens.
1929
* 12 October: Warsaw Convention signed.
* AZS Warsaw wins its first Polish women's volleyball championship.
1930
* founded.
* AZS Warsaw wins its first Polish men's volleyball championship.
* AZS Warsaw wins its first Polish women's basketball championship.
1931 - Warsaw Railway Museum established.
1933
* Legia Warsaw wins its first Polish ice hockey championship.
* Warsaw Cross-City Line begins operating.
1934
* Polonia Warsaw wins its first Polish women's basketball championship.
* Warsaw hosts the 1934 World Fencing Championships.
1935
* August: Warsaw hosts the 6th Chess Olympiad.
* 2 November: Hungarian Cultural Institute opened.
1936 - Museum of Warsaw established.
1937 - Polonia Warsaw wins its first Polish men's volleyball championship.
1938
* opens.
* Coat of arms of Warsaw redesign adopted.

World War II (1939–1945)

1939
* 1 September: Bombing of Warsaw in World War II by German forces begins.
* 8–28 September: Siege of Warsaw (1939) by German forces.
* 27 September: German occupation begins.
* 1 October: The Einsatzgruppe IV Nazi paramilitary death squad entered the city.
* 26 October: Polish Secret Teaching Organization founded.
* 26–27 December: Wawer massacre perpetrated by the Germans.
October 1939–February 1940: Mass arrests and executions of Poles carried out by the Germans in various parts of Warsaw and in the Kabaty Woods and Palmiry during the genocidal Intelligenzaktion campaign.
1940
* Spring–summer: Second wave of mass arrests, roundups, deportations to concentration camps and executions of Poles carried out by the Germans during the AB-Aktion.
* 16 October: Jewish Warsaw Ghetto established by Germans.
1941 - Another wave of mass arrests, deportations to concentration camps and executions of Poles carried out by the Germans.
1942
* July: German Grossaktion Warsaw (1942) begins.
* Pabst Plan created.
1943 - April–May: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
1944
* Subcamp of the Oflag 73 prisoner-of-war camp for officers established by the Germans in Praga.
* 27 July: German Festung Warschau established.
* August–October: Warsaw Uprising against German occupation.
* 1 August: Execution at Powązkowska Street perpetrated by the Germans.
* 2 August: Massacres in the Jesuit monastery on Rakowiecka Street and in the Mokotów prison perpetrated by the Germans.
* 3 August: Massacre at 111 Marszałkowska Street perpetrated by the Germans.
* 3–4 August: Massacre at Bracka Street perpetrated by the Germans.
* 4–25 August: Ochota massacre perpetrated by the Germans.
* 5–12 August: Wola massacre perpetrated by the Germans.
* August–September: Suppression of Mokotów by the Germans.
* 21 August: Mass murder on Dzika street perpetrated by the Germans.
* Mass expulsion of Poles from Warsaw.
* Germans conduct planned destruction of Warsaw.
* Życie Warszawy newspaper begins publication.
1945
* January: Soviet forces take city; German occupation ends.
* 14 February: established.

1945–1990s

1946
* Polonia Warsaw wins its first Polish football championship.
* Społem Warsaw wins its first Polish men's volleyball championship.
1947 - AZS Warsaw wins its first Polish men's basketball championship.
1948
* Stefan Wyszyński becomes Catholic archbishop.
* PKM Warsaw wins its first Team Speedway Polish Championship.
* Spójnia Warsaw wins its first Polish women's basketball championship.
1949 - Six-Year Plan for the Reconstruction of Warsaw created.
1950 - Adam Mickiewicz Museum of Literature established.
1951 - Białołęka, Okęcie, Wilanów, and Włochy become part of city.
1952 - 22 July: Constitution Square inaugurated.
1953 - Old Town Market Place restored.
1954 - Fryderyk Chopin Museum established.
1955
* 10th-Anniversary Stadium opens.
* Crooked Circle Club active.
* Palace of Culture and Science built.
* International Warsaw Pact military alliance headquartered in city.
* Legia Warsaw wins its first Polish football championship.
1956
* Legia Warsaw wins its first Polish men's basketball championship.
* Poles demonstrate solidarity with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, massively bring aid to the Hungarian Cultural Institute, organize fundraising for Hungarians.
1957 - AZS Warsaw wins its first Polish rugby championship.
1959
* Polonia Warsaw wins its first Polish men's basketball championship.
* Kampinos National Park created near city.
1961
* Warsaw Chamber Opera founded.
* Legia Warsaw wins its first Polish women's volleyball championship.
1962 - Legia Warsaw wins its first Polish men's volleyball championship.
1963 - St. John's Cathedral rebuilt.
1964
* 20 July: Monument to the Heroes of Warsaw unveiled.
* Skra Warsaw wins its first Polish rugby championship.
1965
* September: City co-hosts the 1965 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup.
* Population: 1,252,558.
1966 - Foksal Gallery of art opens.
1967
* Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum opened.
* Jerzy Majewski becomes mayor.
1973 - Nusantara Archipelago Museum established.
1974
* Łazienkowski Bridge opens.
* built on Marszałkowska Street.
* Ujazdów Castle rebuilt.
1975
* Warszawa Centralna railway station opens.
* Intraco I hi-rise built
1978
* Museum of Caricature established.
* Intraco II hi-rise built.
1979
* 15 February: 1979 Warsaw gas explosion.
* June: Catholic pope John Paul II visits city.
1980 - Population: 1,596,073.
1981 - Józef Glemp becomes Catholic archbishop.
1983
* Romuald Traugutt Philharmonic established.
* Warsaw hosts the International Congress of Mathematicians.
* 1 October: Mały Powstaniec monument unveiled.
1985 - Antonina Leśniewska Museum of Pharmacy established.
1987 - Warsaw hosts the 1987 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
1989
* 4 April: Polish Round Table Agreement signed in Warsaw.
* Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper begins publication.
* Marriott hi-rise built.
* 1 August: Warsaw Uprising Monument unveiled.
* Monument of Jews and Poles Common Martyrdom unveiled.
1991 - Warsaw Stock Exchange reestablished.
1992 - Public Transport Authority established.
1993 - Katyń Museum established.
1994
* City divided into 11 districts: Bemowo, Białołęka, Bielany, Centrum, Rembertów, Targówek, Ursus, Ursynów, Wawer, Wilanów, and Włochy.
* Warsaw Business Journal begins publication.
* Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology founded.
1995
* Warsaw Metro begins operating.
* May: Warsaw hosts the 1995 European Weightlifting Championships.
* 14 August: Józef Piłsudski Monument unveiled.
* 17 September: Monument to the Fallen and Murdered in the East unveiled.
1996 - Sister city relationship established with San Diego, US.
1997
* Centrum Handlowe Targówek opens.
* March: Warsaw hosts the 1997 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships.
* May: Warsaw co-hosts the 1997 European Wrestling Championships.
1998
* Centrum metro station opens.
* Warsaw Financial Center built.
1999
* City becomes capital of the Masovian Voivodeship.
* 10 June: Monument to the Polish Underground State and Home Army unveiled.
* Warsaw Trade Tower built.
2000 - Świętokrzyski Bridge and Cinema City Sadyba open.

21st century

2001
* Kinoteka opens.
* Atrium Center built.
2002
* Wesoła becomes part of city.
* Siekierkowski Bridge opens.
* established.
* November: Warsaw hosts the 2002 World Weightlifting Championships.
2003
* March: Warsaw hosts the 2003 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships.
* InterContinental Warsaw skyscraper built.
2005
* 29 April: Museum of Modern Art established.
* 1 June: Copernicus Science Centre established.
2006
* Janusz Korczak Monument unveiled.
* Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz becomes mayor.
* Rondo 1 skyscraper built.
2007
* January: Warsaw hosts the 2007 European Figure Skating Championships.
* 11 May: Monument to Georgian officers of the Polish Army who lost their lives in the Katyn massacre, in the Warsaw Uprising and on many fronts of World War II unveiled.
* 14 June: in business.
* December: Warsaw hosts the 2007 European Judo Open Championships.
2009 – Warsaw co-hosts the EuroBasket 2009.
2010 – 16 November: Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument unveiled.
2012
* National Stadium opens.
* Warsaw co-hosts the UEFA Euro 2012.
2013
* 13 June: Naming of the Skwer Ormiański in Mokotów.
* 25 June: Khachkar gifted by Armenia to Warsaw unveiled at the Armenian Square.
* September: Labor demonstration.
* Twarda Tower built.
* Population: 1,724,404.
2014
* 14 May: Honorary Consulate of Iceland opened.
* 31 October: Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji monument unveiled.
2015
* Warsaw Metro Line 2 begins operating.
* 27 May: 2015 UEFA Europa League Final held in Warsaw.
* 3 October: Danuta Siedzikówna monument unveiled.
* December: Political demonstration.
2016 - 8–9 July: 2016 Warsaw summit.
2017
* April: Warsaw hosts the 2017 European Judo Championships.
* 13 May: Witold Pilecki monument unveiled.
* August: Warsaw co-hosts the 2017 Men's European Volleyball Championship.
* 19 September: Monument to Hungarian soldiers who aided the Polish Warsaw Uprising of 1944 unveiled.
2018 - 22 September: Khachkar commemorating Pope John Paul II and the centennial anniversary of the restoration of Armenian and Polish independence unveiled.
2020 - June: Warsaw hosts the 2020 European Table Tennis Championships.
2021 - April: Warsaw hosts the 2021 European Wrestling Championships.
2022 - September: Varso Tower completed as EU's tallest building.
2025 - December: 73 Polish-Teutonic documents from the 13th-15th centuries, stolen by Germany from Warsaw during World War II, were returned by Germany to Poland, and restored to the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw.