Timeline of York facts for kids

This is a timeline showing the most important events in the history of York, a famous city in northern England. It covers many centuries, from Roman times to today, showing how York grew and changed.

Ancient York: Roman Times (1st-4th Centuries)

• 71 – The Roman army, led by Quintus Petillius Cerialis, built a fort near the River Ouse. This was the start of York. They also began building city walls.
• 95–104 – The city was first officially called Eboracum during this time.
• 119 – A new Roman army group, called Legio VI Victrix, arrived in Eboracum.
• 122 – Emperor Hadrian might have visited the city.
• 208–211 – The Roman Emperor Septimius Severus and his family lived in Eboracum. Severus led military campaigns from here.
• 211 – 4 February: Emperor Septimius Severus died in Eboracum.
• c. 214 – Eboracum became an important administrative center for the Roman province of Britannia Inferior.
• 306 – 25 July: Constantine the Great was declared Roman emperor by his soldiers in Eboracum after his father died there.
• 383 – This was the last time a large Roman army was present in northern England.

Early Medieval York: Anglo-Saxons and Vikings (5th-10th Centuries)

• 625 – 21 July: Paulinus became the first Bishop of York.
• 627 – Paulinus built the first York Minster (a temporary wooden church) for King Edwin of Northumbria's baptism. He also founded St Peter's School.
• 637 – A stone church, the start of York Minster, was finished.
• 735 – Bishop Ecgbert became the first Archbishop of York. He started a library and a school.
• 741 – The Minster was destroyed by fire but was rebuilt even bigger.
• 866 – November: The "Great Heathen Army" of Vikings, led by Ivar the Boneless, captured York.
• 867 – 21 March: The Danes defeated a Northumbrian attack on York, killing their kings.
• 876 – The Danes took over southern Northumbria and created the Kingdom of York.
• c. 897 – A place to make coins (a mint) was started again in the city.
• c. 919 – A Viking leader named Ragnall ua Ímair captured York.
• 927 – Æthelstan, King of the Anglo-Saxons, drove out another Viking leader from York.
• 939 – The Viking King of Dublin, Olaf III Guthfrithsson, captured York.
• 944 – King Edmund I of England took York back from the Vikings.
• 947 – Eric Bloodaxe became king of Northumbria for the first time.
• 954 – Eric Bloodaxe was removed from power.

Medieval York: Norman Conquest and Growth (11th-14th Centuries)

• 1065 – 3 October: Rebels captured York and chose a new earl.
• 1068 – William the Conqueror defeated rebels in York and built a wooden castle.
• Winter of 1069–1070 – William put down rebellions in the North very harshly. He built a second wooden castle.
• 1070 – 23 May: The first Norman Archbishop, Thomas of Bayeux, was appointed and began rebuilding York Minster.
• 1088 – January/February: St Mary's Abbey was re-established.
• 1137 – 4 June: York Minster and the city were badly damaged by a fire. The Minster was quickly rebuilt.
• 1154 – Ouse Bridge collapsed.
• 1182 – Citizens of York were given a special charter, giving them more rights.
• 1190 – 16 March: A mob attacked 150 Jewish people who had taken shelter in Clifford's Tower at York Castle.
• 1212 – 9 July: A royal charter allowed citizens to collect their own taxes and choose a mayor.
• 1220 – Rebuilding of York Minster in the beautiful Gothic style began.
• 1228 – Christmas: A storm destroyed the wooden tower at York Castle.
• 1237 – 25 September: The Treaty of York was signed between England and Scotland.
• 1244 – King Henry III ordered the castle to be rebuilt in stone.
• c. 1260 – In York Minster, the north part was finished, and the famous Five Sisters window was put in.
• 1291 – Building of the main part (nave) of York Minster began.
• 1295 – The city started sending two members to parliament.
• 1298–1304 – King Edward I moved important government offices to York.
• 1319 – 20 September: Scottish forces defeated defenders from York in the Battle of Myton.
• 1322 – The Scottish army raided areas near York.
• 1328 – King Edward II married Philippa of Hainault in the Minster.
• 1335 – Parliament met in York. After this, it usually met in London.
• 1349 – May: The terrible Black Death plague reached York, killing about half the population.
• 1350s – The main part (nave) of York Minster was finished.
• 1357 – Construction of the Merchant Adventurers' Hall began.
• 1361 – Building of the lady chapel and choir of York Minster began.
• 1376 – The first record of the York Mystery Plays, which were religious plays performed in the city.
• 1381 – Summer: There was unrest in York during the Peasants’ Revolt.
• 1389 – The mayor of York was given the special title of Lord Mayor of York, second only to London's Lord Mayor.
• 1396 – King Richard II gave York a special charter, making it a "county corporate."

Later Medieval and Tudor York (15th-16th Centuries)

• 1405 – 8 June: Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, was executed after a revolt.
• 1407 – York Minster’s central tower collapsed but was rebuilt from 1420.
• 1408 – York Minster's huge east window, the world's largest medieval stained glass, was finished.
• c. 1450 – The choir of York Minster was completed.
• 1453 – York Guildhall opened.
• 1464 – 1 June: The Treaty of York was signed between England and Scotland.
• 1471 – 14 March: During the Wars of the Roses, Edward IV of England landed and quickly secured York.
• 1472 – York Minster was officially consecrated after its west towers were finished.
• 1483 – 8 September: Edward of Middleham, son of King Richard III of England, was made Prince of Wales in York.
• c. 1500 – The beautiful Rose window was installed in York Minster, celebrating the end of the Wars of the Roses.
• 1536 – October: The Pilgrimage of Grace, a large protest, took over York.
• 1538–1539 – During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, several religious houses in York were closed.
• 1541 – King Henry VIII visited.
• 1569 – The York Mystery Plays were stopped.
• 1586 – 25 March: Margaret Clitherow was executed for refusing to say if she was hiding Catholic priests.
• 1596 – 29 November: Three men were executed for being Catholic priests.

York in the Stuart and Georgian Eras (17th-18th Centuries)

• 1616 – June: The city got its first waterworks and piped water supply.
• 1617 – King James I visited.
• 1633 – King Charles I visited.
• 1642 – 19 March–3 July: King Charles I held his court in York.
• 1644 – 16 July: During the First English Civil War, Parliament's forces captured York.
• 1653 – 18 April: The first record of a stagecoach service between London and York.
• 1676 – Highwayman John Nevison rode from Kent to York in a day to create an alibi.
• 1684 – 23 April: A gunpowder explosion destroyed Clifford's Tower at York Castle.
• 1686 – 5 November: The Bar Convent was started, becoming England's oldest active Catholic convent.
• 1694 – The city bought its first fire engine.
• 1705 – The Debtor's Prison was finished at York Castle.
• 1709 – Horse racing was first recorded on Clifton Ings.
• 1719 – 23 February: York's first newspaper, the York Mercury, was published.
• c. 1731 – The first horse races were held at York Racecourse.
• 1732 – August: The beautiful York Assembly Rooms opened. The Mansion House for the Lord Mayor was also finished.
• 1739 – 7 April: The famous highwayman Dick Turpin was executed in York for horse stealing.
• 1740 – April: York County Hospital was established.
• 1744 – A new Theatre opened.
• 1767 – The confectionery business that later became Terry's was started.
• 1777 – The Assize Courts were completed at York Castle.
• 1783 – May: John Goodricke presented his important findings about the variable star Algol.
• 1796 – The Retreat was established by the Quaker William Tuke, a pioneer in humane treatment for people with mental health conditions.

York in the Victorian Era (19th Century)

• 1812 – A new stone Foss Bridge was completed.
• 1821 – A new Ouse Bridge was completed.
• 1822 – Joseph Rowntree opened a grocery shop, which was the start of the Rowntree's chocolate business.
• 1823 – September: A music festival was held in the Cathedral. The York Gas Light Company was started.
• 1827 – The Yorkshire Philosophical Society began digging at St Mary's Abbey before building the Yorkshire Museum.
• 1829 – 1–2 February: A fire, started by a religious fanatic, badly damaged the choir and nave roof of York Minster.
• 1830 – February: The Yorkshire Museum opened in the grounds of St Mary's Abbey.
• 1832 – 2 June: The 1829–51 cholera pandemic reached York.
• 1836 – The city got its first unified police force.
• 1839 – 29 May: York's first railway station opened.
• 1840 – 20 May: York Minster's nave roof was destroyed in an accidental fire.
• 1842 – The first railway workshops were built.
• 1853 – A law was passed to improve drainage in the city.
• 1862 – Henry Isaac Rowntree bought the chocolate and cocoa parts of the Tuke family business, leading to the modern Rowntree's.
• 1863 – 8 January: Lendal Bridge opened.
• 1877 – 25 June: The new (and current) York railway station opened.
• 1880 – 27 October: Horse-drawn tram services began in York.
• 1881 – 10 March: Skeldergate Bridge opened.
• 1882 – York Art Gallery opened. The local newspaper The Evening Press began publishing.
• 1884 – The North Eastern Railway started making railway carriages in York.
• 1888 – York became a county borough, giving it more self-governance.
• 1890 – Browns department store was established.
• 1894 – August: Lendal Bridge became free to cross (no more tolls).
• 1899 – Seebohm Rowntree began his first study of poverty in York.

Modern York (20th-21st Centuries)

• 1900 – The city opened an electricity generating plant.
• 1901 – Seebohm Rowntree published his important book Poverty, A Study of Town Life based on his research in York. The population was 77,914.
• 1902–1904 – The model village of New Earswick was built.
• 1908 – 23 November: The city's first permanent cinema opened. York City F.C. was founded as an amateur football club.
• 1910 – 20 January: Electric tram services began in York.
• 1916 – 2 May: A German Zeppelin air raid on York killed 9 people.
• 1922 – 6 May: York City F.C. was re-founded. The National Railway Museum began to be set up.
• 1926 – Terry's opened their new chocolate factory, The Chocolate Works. A sugar beet factory also opened.
• 1935 – 16 November: York's tram services closed and were replaced by buses.
• 1937 – The chocolate sweets Smarties were first sold by Rowntree's.
• 1938 – 23 April: York Castle Museum opened.
• 1942 – 28/29 April: The Baedeker Blitz air raid killed 79 people and badly damaged the York Guildhall and other buildings.
• 1951 – The first York Festival was held, bringing back the York Mystery Plays.
• 1961 – 16 December: The York Cold War Bunker opened.
• 1963 – The University of York was established with a new campus. Clifton Bridge opened.
• 1967–1972 – York Minster's foundations were strengthened.
• 1969 – Rowntree's merged with Mackintosh's.
• 1970 – 25 October: Margaret Clitherow was made a saint, becoming St Margaret of York.
• 1971 – Stonegate became a pedestrian-only street.
• 1975 – 27 September: The National Railway Museum opened, the first national museum outside London.
• 1976 – A new York Hospital opened. The A64 York bypass road opened.
• 1982 – 31 May: Pope John Paul II visited the city.
• 1983 – 4 July: BBC Radio York began broadcasting.
• 1984 – April: The Coppergate Shopping Centre and Jorvik Viking Centre opened. 9 July: A fire damaged the south transept roof of York Minster.
• 1987 – 11 December: The York Outer Ring Road was completed.
• 1988 – November: The River Foss Barrier was completed to help with flooding. Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery was taken over by Nestlé.
• 1992 – 4 July: Minster FM began broadcasting.
• 1993 – Terry's was taken over by Kraft Foods Inc.
• 1996 – The City of York became a unitary authority, including areas outside the old city.
• 2000 – October–November: Severe flooding, mainly from the River Ouse.
• 2001 – 10 April: The Millennium Bridge opened.
• 2007 – The York sugar beet factory closed.
• 2014 – 6 July: York hosted the start of Stage 2 of the Tour de France.
• 2015 – December: Severe flooding, mainly from the River Foss.
• 2021 – 16 February: York City F.C. played their first match at the new York Community Stadium.
• 2023 – 3 August: The first rabbi for a Jewish community in York since 1190 was announced.

Famous People Born in York

• c. 735 – Alcuin, a very smart scholar.
• Before 1190 – Aaron of York, an important financier and chief rabbi.
• 1556 – Margaret Clitherow, a Catholic saint.
• 1570 – 13 April: Guy Fawkes, known for the Gunpowder Plot.
• 1755 – 6 July: John Flaxman, a famous sculptor.
• 1784 – 31 July: Samuel Tuke, a kind person who helped improve mental health care.
• 1787 – 10 March: William Etty, a well-known painter.
• 1813 – 15 March: John Snow, a doctor who helped understand how diseases spread.
• 1836 – 24 May: Joseph Rowntree, a chocolate maker and generous helper of others.
• 1871 – 7 July: Seebohm Rowntree, a chocolate maker and social reformer.
• 1907 – 21 February: W. H. Auden, a famous poet.
• 1917 – 6 March: Frankie Howerd, a funny actor.
• 1933 – 3 November: John Barry, a composer who wrote music for many films.
• 1934 – 9 December: Judi Dench, a very famous actress.
• 1942 – 17 April: David Bradley, an actor.
• 1943 – 9 May: Vince Cable, a politician.
• 1992 – 2 October: Lucy Staniforth, a footballer.