1492:
America is discovered by explorer Columbus.
1524:
Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano sails into New York Harbor and discovers the islands that later became New York City.
1609:
Englishman Henry Hudson sails up the Hudson River.
1625:
The first black slaves are brought from Africa and the Dutch establish the first permanent settlement in Manhattan and name it New Amsterdam.
1626:
Governor Peter Minuit buys Manhattan from the native American Indians for trinkets believed to be valued at $24.
1636:
Settlers buy Brooklyn from the Indians.
1641:
Johannes Bronck buys part of the Bronx from the Indians, who drive settlers from Staten Island.
1643:
Indian skirmishes end with temporary peace treaty and the first permanent settlement is established in Flushing, Queens.
1647:
Peter Stuyvesant becomes the colonial governor.
1653:
Governor Peter Stuyvesant has a wall built from river to river to keep out British trade rivals and to increase protection from attacks.
1654:
The first Jewish settlers arrive.
1660:
The first city hospital is established.
1664:
British take the city and oust the Dutch without a fight and rename it New York, after the brother of King Charles II - Duke of York.
1673:
The Dutch recapture the city and name it New Orange.
1674:
British gain permanent control of the city and province, naming them both New York.
1676:
The Great Dock is built on the East River.
1680's:
New York is given exclusive rights to process and ship grain.
1683:
The first New York City charter is established.
1689:
Merchant Jaacob Leisler leads the revolt against taxes and control of the city for two years.
1691:
Leisler is sentenced to death for treason.
1693:
Ninety-two cannons are installed for protection - the area becomes known as the Battery.
1702:
Lord Cornbury, who often wore women's clothes is appointed Colonial governor.
1710:
Iroquois chief Hendrick visits England.
1711:
Slave market is established at the foot of Wall Street.
1720:
First shipyard opens.
1725:
New York Gazette is established - The city's first newspaper.
1732:
First city theater opens.
1733:
Bowling Green becomes the first city park: First ferries to Brooklyn.
1734:
John Peter Zenger's libel trial upholds freedom of the press.
1741:
Thirty-one slaves are executed and 150 imprisoned after a slave uprising creates chaos.
1750:
Kings College is completed.(Now called Columbia University)
1754:
French and Indian War begins.
1759:
First jail is built.
1762:
First paid police force.
1763:
The War ends - British gain control of North America.
1765:
British pass Stamp Act - New Yorkers protest - Sons of Liberty formed.
1766:
St Paul's Chapel completed. Stamp Act repealed. Statue of George III erected on Bowling Green.
1767:
New duties imposed with Townsend Act - after protests, the act is repelled.
1770:
Sons of Liberty fight the British in the "Battle of Golden Hill"
1774:
Rebels dump tea in New York Harbor to protest against taxes.
1776:
After the Declaration of Independence is signed, battles take place between the American and British forces. 500 ships under General Howe assemble in New York Harbor.
1783:
Treaty of Paris signed, US wins independence. British evacuate New York.
1784:
Bank of New York chartered.
1785:
New York named US capital.
1789:
George Washington inaugurated as the first president at Federal Hall.
1790:
US capital is moved to Philadelphia. A census puts the population of Manhattan at 33000.
1791:
New York Hospital opens. This is the city's oldest hospital.
1792:
Tontine Coffee House built - first home of the Stock Exchange.
1801:
New York Post founded by Alexander Hamilton.
1804:
Vice President Aaron Burr kills political rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
1805:
First free state schools established in New York.
1807:
Robert Fulton launches first steamboat on the Hudson River.
1811:
Randel Plan divides Manhattan into a grid pattern above 14th Street.
1812-14:
War of 1812 - British blockade New York Harbor.
1813:
Robert Fulton starts a ferry service between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
1820:
Census puts the population at 123,706 - New York is the nation's largest city.
1822:
Yellow Fever epidemic: people evacuate to Greenwich Village.
1825:
New York flourishes as a port. Large scale immigration from Europe begins.
1827:
New York abolishes slavery.
1835:
Much of old New York destroyed in city's worst fire.
1837:
New Yorker Samuel Morse sends first telegraph message.
1842:
Croton Reservoir built.
1845:
New York Knickerbockers first organized baseball team is chartered.
1851:
New York Times is first published.
1853:
New York plays host for the first World's Fair.
1857:
Financial panic and depression.
1858:
Shanty-town slums in Central Manhattan are torn down to create Central Park.
1861:
New York joins 23 northern states to fight the South in the Civil War.
1863:
Draft riots last four days - large loss of life.
1865:
Abraham Lincoln lies in state in the City Hall.
1867:
Brooklyn's Prospect Park completed.
1868:
First elevated railroad built on Greenwich Street.
1869:
First apartment house built on the 18th Street. Black Friday financial crisis hits Wall Street.
1870:
J.D.Rockefeller founds Standard Oil.
1871:
First Grand Central Depot opens on 42nd Street. The "Boss" Tweed is arrested and imprisoned.
1872:
Bloomingdale's opens.
1873:
Banks fail and the Stock Exchange panics.
1877:
A.G.Bell demonstrates the telephone in New York.
1879:
St Patrick's Cathedral completed. first city telephone exchange opened on Nassau Street.
1880:
Canned fruits and meats first appear in stores; Metropolitan Museum of Art opens; streets lit by electricity.
1883:
Brooklyn Bridge opens and the Metropolitan Opera opens on Broadway. Grand fireworks display over Brooklyn Bridge.
1886:
Statue of Liberty unveiled.
1888:
The Great Blizzard dumps 56cm of snow.
1890:
First moving picture shows appear in New York.
1891:
Carnegie Hall opens.
1892:
Mass immigration through Ellis Island, 17 million new citizens were processed over 62 years.
1895:
Olympia Theater is the first to open in the Broadway area.
1896:
First bagel served in a Clinton Street bakery.
1897:
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel opens the largest hotel in the world.
1898:
New York is officially formed with five boroughs united under one municipality. The new city is the world's second largest, with a population of 3.5 million.
1900:
Mayor Robert Van Wyck breaks the ground for the city's first subway with a silver shovel.
1901
Macy's opens Broadway department store.
1902:
The Flatiron Building in Madison Square, heralds the age of the skyscraper.
1903:
Lyceum Theater opens - oldest Broadway house still in use.
1905:
First crossing of the Staten Island Ferry.
1906:
Architect Stanford White shot at Madison Square Garden, which he built in 1890.
1907:
First metered taxicabs; first Ziegfield Follies.
1909:
Wilbur Wright flies first plane over New York.
1910:
Pennsylvania Station opens.
1911:
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 sweatshop workers; New York Public Library completed.
1913:
Woolworth Building is the world's tallest; new Grand Central Terminal opens; Harlem's Apollo Theater opens.
1918:
End of World War I
1919:
18th Amendment bans alcohol.
1920:
US women get the vote
1924:
Novelist James Baldwin is born in Harlem.
1925:
The New Yorker magazine is launched.
1926:
Jimmy Walker becomes mayor
1927:
Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic; first talking movie - the Jazz Singer opens; Holland Tunnel opens
1929:
Wall Street Crash - marks the start of the Great Depression.
1930:
Chrysler Building completed.
1931:
Empire State Building becomes the world's tallest.
1933:
Prohibition ends; Fiorello LaGuardia begins three terms as mayor.
1936:
Parks Department headed by Robert Moses; new parks created.
1939:
Rockefeller Center is completed.
Opening of LaGuardia Airport.
1940:
Queens-Midtown Tunnel opens. Rockefeller Center opens.
1941:
US enters World War II
1942:
Times Square blacked out during World War II. Idlewild International Airport (JFK) opens.
1944:
Black leader Adam Clayton Powell elected to Congress.
1945:
End of World War II
1946:
UN Headquarters established in New York.
1947:
First black baseball player in the major leagues signs for the Brooklyn Dodgers - Jackie Robinson.
1952:
The United Nations meets at the new headquarters overlooking the East River.
1954:
Ellis Island closes.
1959:
The Guggenheim Museum opens.
1963:
Pennsylvania Station razed.

964:
Beatles play at the Shea Stadium - New York World's Fair - Race riots in Harlem.
1966:
Newspaper and transit strikes.
1967:
Hippie musical "Hair" opens on Off-Broadway and then transfers to the Baltimore Theater.
1971:
Andy Warhol - the famous pop artist - shows his work at the Whitney Museum.
1973:
World Trade Center opens.
1975:
A Federal loan saves New York from bankruptcy.
1981:
New York regains solvency.
1983:
Economic boom and property prices skyrocket - The Trump Tower is completed.
1986:
Corruption scandals rock Mayor Koch's administration - Centennial of Statue of Liberty.
1987:
Stock market crash.
1988:
25% of New Yorkers living below the poverty line.
World Financial Center opens.
1990:
David Dinkins, New York's first black mayor takes office.
1992:
Ellis Island reopens as an immigration museum.
1994:
Rudolph Giuliani takes office as mayor. Crime rates are reduced by 50%
1995:
Chelsea Piers are renovated and reopened as a giant entertainment and sports complex.
2000:
The population reaches over 8 million.
2001:
September 11th
Two jet airliners, hijacked by terroists, are flown into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, killing approximately 5,500 people and destroying many buildings in the immediate vicinity. The devastating footage is broadcast around the world. President George W Bush declares war on terroism.
Hilary Clinton is elected Democratic senator from New York.
2002:
Michael Bloomberg is elected the 108th Mayor of New York City, after battling one of the most expensive election campaigns ever.
42nd Street, crossing Broadway at Times Square is regenerated as the lights go on. The area out-shines Soho as the city's chic spot.