Timeline of Edinburgh history
1660: Government of Scotland resumed by the Committee of Estates; the Mercurius Caledonius, arguably the first Scottish newspaper, written and edited by Thomas Sydserf, published on 31 December 1661: Execution of Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll[28] 1663: Execution of Archibald Johnston of Warriston, co-author of the National Covenant of 1638; Edinburgh buys the burgh of regality of Leith Citadel 1671: John Law, founder of the Banque Générale, born[29] 1673: City's first coffeehouse opens at the head of Parliament Close; 20 licensed hackney coaches are available for hire 1674: German engineer, Peter Brauss or Brusche, creates a piped water supply, drawn gravitationally from Comiston Springs, three and a half miles from the city, to a cistern on Castle Hill; after a major fire in the High Street the town council orders all ruinous and burned tenements henceforth to be rebuilt in stone 1675: Physic garden planted at Holyrood founded by Robert Sibbald[30] 1678: First regular stagecoach to Glasgow 1679: Some 1200 Covenanters are imprisoned at Greyfriars after the battle of Bothwell Bridge; some are executed in the Grassmarket; town council organises a Town Guard (or City Guard) for prevention of crime and disorder (disbanded 1817) 1681: Royal College of Physicians founded by Robert Sibbald[31] under patronage of the Duke of Albany and York (later King James VII and II); Merchant Company of Edinburgh receives Royal Charter; Viscount Stair's Institutions of the Laws of Scotland published 1682: Advocates Library, forerunner of the National Library of Scotland, founded by Sir George Mackenzie with the Duke of Albany as patron; Mons Meg bursts during salute to the Duke of Albany and York on his entry to the town 1687: Goldsmiths granted Royal Charter 1688: Collapse of royal government in Scotland after Lord Chancellor James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth flees; mob riot wrecks James VII's royal chapel in Holyrood Abbey 1689: The Convention of Estates accepts the rule of William of Orange by right of conquest; Leven's Regiment (later K.O.S.B.)1768-71: First edition of Encyclopædia Britannica produced in Anchor Close 1769: Opening of the first Theatre Royal at the north end of the North Bridge; 5 people killed by the collapse of the bridge's southern abutment; Society of Bowlers founded and draws up rules of the game 1770s: There are 27 competing printing firms in the city 1771: Sir Walter Scott is born in College Wynd 1772: Reconstruction of the North Bridge completed; building of Dundas House, on St Andrew Square, designed by Sir William Chambers begins 1773: Dr Johnson visits Edinburgh; Penny Post begun by Peter Williamson 1774: Construction of Robert Adam's Register House at east end of Princes Street begins Mid 1770s: The British Linen Company completely switches to banking[44] 1775: Population of Edinburgh, Canongate, St Cuthbert's and Leith is 70,430; new St Cuthbert's Church opens; a directory of brothels and prostitutes is published 1777: A new High School building opens in High School Yards; 8 legal and 400 illegal distilleries in the city 1778: Younger's Brewery established within the precincts of Holyrood Abbey[45] 1780: National Museum of Antiquities established as part of Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (later housed in the Royal Institution on The Mound in 1827 and in Queen Street in 1891) 1782: System of parliamentary representation is criticised by Thomas McGrugar in "Letters of Zeno" 1783: Royal Society of Edinburgh created by Royal Charter for "the advancement of learning and useful knowledge"; Society of Antiquaries of Scotland incorporated by Royal Charter for "the study of the antiquities and history of Scotland..."; proposal for the construction of "The Earthen Mound" begins[46] 1784: James Tytler makes the first hot-air balloon ascent in Britain from Comely Gardens to Restalrig village; meeting discusses corrupt electoral system 1785: Italian balloonist Vincent Lunardi makes his first Scottish hydrogen balloon flight from the grounds of Heriot's School, landing 46 miles away in Ceres, Fife; Old Tolbooth becomes usual place of execution[47] 1785–1786: Stone bridge at Stockbridge 1785–1788: The South Bridge is built 1786: The Ayrshire poet Robert Burns is fêted by the city's social elite 1787: New Assembly Rooms opened in George Street[48] 1788: William Brodie is executed – leader of a gang of robbers 1789: The first stone of Edinburgh University's Old College is laid[49][50] 1791: A census puts the population of the city at 82,706 with 29,718 in the City of Edinburgh (22,512 in the Old Town and 7,206 in the New Town), 6,200 in Canongate Parish, 32,947 in St Cuthbert's Parish, 11,432 in South Leith Parish and 2,409 in North Leith Parish; Robert Burns visits the city for the second and last time 1792: The Friends of the People Society meets for the first time; Charlotte Square designed by Robert Adam; James Craig's Old Observatory completed on Calton Hill 1793: Sedition trials held: Thomas Muir of Huntershill and other radical reformers are sentenced to transportation 1794: Robert Watt, a former spy, is sentenced to death for "Pike Plot" 1797: Snuff manufacturer James Gillespie dies after bequeathing a hospital for the aged poor and a "free school for the education of poor boys" 1799: City has access to 3 million litres of drinking water a day 1800: Stein's Canongate brewery is built 1802: Demolition of the Luckenbooths (apart from east-most) in the High Street begins; architects William Sibbald and Robert Reid produce a final plan for the building of a 'Second New Town' north of James Craig's New Town; the Edinburgh Review is published[51] 1802–1806: Bank of Scotland head office is built 1803: William and Dorothy Wordsworth stay in the White Hart Inn in the Grassmarket 1805: Edinburgh Police Act 1805 (45 Geo.It uses horse-drawn carriages 1832: Surgeons' Hall by William Henry Playfair, the headquarters of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, completed; outbreak of cholera in the city (recurs 1848 and 1866); The Scotsman newspaper incorporates the Caledonian Mercury 1833: The city goes bankrupt; partly due to the development of Leith docks[59] 1835: No further expansion of the New Town takes place after the incomplete building of Hopetoun Crescent off Leith Walk 1836: The Royal Institution extended 1840: Bernard's Edinburgh Brewery in North Back of Canongate (Calton Road) opens 1841: The population according to the government census is 133,692.formed; Institute of Bankers founded; Cockburn Association (Edinburgh Civic Trust) founded 1877: Hall of new Trinity Church in Chalmers Close completed incorporating apse from Trinity College Kirk 1879: St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Palmerston Place consecrated; R. L. Stevenson's Picturesque Notes, describing the city and its society, is published; William Ewart Gladstone addresses 20,000 people in Waverley Market at start of Midlothian campaign;[citation needed] the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh moves to Lauriston Place[8] 1881: Queen Victoria hosts a parade of 39,473 Scottish Volunteers in a heavy downpour of rain at Holyrood, giving rise to the occasion being remembered as the "Wet Review"; Dean Distillery opens, converted from Dean Mills 1882: Chair of Celtic established at Edinburgh University;[65] City brought to standstill by severe winter weather 1883: Royal Lyceum Theatre built[66] 1884: Blackford Hill acquired by the city for use as a public park 1885: Watt Institution and School of Arts becomes Heriot-Watt College; reconstructed Mercat Cross handed over to the city by benefactor William Ewart Gladstone; Caledonian Distillery opens at Haymarket, at one time the largest distillery in Europe 1886: The Edinburgh International Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art takes place in the Meadows; 'Cooke's Circus', a combined circus and variety theatre, opens in East Fountainbridge 1887: The Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women founded by Sophia Jex-Blake;[8] production starts at North British Distillery in Gorgie area 1888: Slight earthquake felt in the city at 5am on 2 February; Flying Scotsman train reaches Edinburgh from London in 6 hours 19 minutes during the Race to the North 1889: Opening of the Braid Hills to the public following acquisition by the city 1890: Central Library on George IV Bridge, partly paid for by Andrew Carnegie, opens to public 1891: Scottish National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland opens on Queen Street; the census gives Edinburgh's population as 269,407 (including 8,182 Portobello residents) 1892: Jenners department store in Princes Street burns down (rebuilt store opens 1895); Drybrough's brewery moves to Craigmillar 1893: Caledonian Railway's Princes Street Station completed 1894: McVitie & Price Ltd bakery rebuilt in Gorgie; the new Parish Church of St Cuthbert, by Hippolyte Blanc, is dedicated 1895: Royal National Observatory built on Blackford Hill; first electric street lighting installed 1896: First female doctors graduate from the University of Edinburgh;[8] Portobello is incorporated into Edinburgh 1897: Opening of the rebuilt North Bridge at a cost of £90,000; cable car track laid in Princes Street 1900: Construction of new Midlothian County Buildings begins, replacing old County Hall of 1817; Stockbridge gains a library and hall; character actor Alastair Sim is born; Robert Younger's St Ann's Brewery, Abbeyhill begins brewing 1901: University appoints its first Professor of Scottish history; the Royal High School has 350 pupils; first use of the name 'Royal Mile' to describe the main thoroughfare of the Old Town 1902: New Waverley Station completed, covering 70,000 square metres; the North British Hotel is also built 1903: Caledonian Hotel opens;[66] world's first floral clock installed in West Princes Street Gardens 1905: Moray House in Canongate becomes a teacher training centre 1905–1906: King's Theatre is built at Tollcross[67] 1907: Work begins on constructing the Edinburgh College of Art[68] 1908: Scottish National Exhibition held in Saughton Park[69] 1910: First electric trams run; Bank of Scotland has 169 branches 1910–1913: Scottish National Zoological Park laid out at Corstorphine 1910–1914: Usher Hall is built[66] 1911: Empire Palace Theatre, now Festival Theatre, partially burns down during The Great Lafayette's final act.[91] 1999: The Scottish Parliament is opened by Queen Elizabeth in the Assembly Hall on The Mound[92] 2002: A major fire destroys part of the Cowgate and buildings on the South Bridge;[93] first Edinburgh Makar appointed, Stewart Conn[94] 2003: MTV Europe Music Awards held at Ocean Terminal, Leith;[95] the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh moves to Little France[8] 2004: The Scottish Parliament Building opens[96] 2005: An estimated 225,000 people march through the city as part of the "Make Poverty History" campaign, calling on world leaders to act at the G8 summit being held at Gleneagles.[97] 2008: Work begins on new tramway (the project is beset by difficulties, taking six years to lay 14 km of track)[98] 2009: City hosts the biggest international clan gathering as part of Homecoming Scotland[99] 2010: Pope Benedict XVI received by Queen Elizabeth at Holyrood Palace at the start of his state visit to Great Britain.
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