c. 1,500 B.C. Oysters became an important food resource.
c. 1,000 B.C. Native-American introduction of pottery.
c. 800 A.D. Native-American introduction of domesticated plants; bow and arrow came into use.
c. 1200. Permanent Native-American villages established.
1572. Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spanish governor of Florida, explored Chesapeake Bay.
c. 1620. Earliest appearance of European objects in archeological context.
1629. George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore, left Avalon in Newfoundland, visited Virginia.
1631. Kent Island settled by Virginians under William Claiborne.
1632, June 20. Maryland Charter granted to Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, by Charles I, King of Great Britain and Ireland.
1633, Nov. 22. The Ark and the Dove set sail from Cowes, England, for Maryland.
1634, March 25. Landing of settlers at St. Clement's Island (Maryland Day).
1634/5, Feb. 26. First General Assembly met at St. Mary's City.
1645. Ingle's Rebellion.
1647/8, Jan. 21. Margaret Brent denied right to vote in General Assembly.
1649, April 21. Religious toleration law enacted.
1650, April 6. General Assembly divided into an upper and lower house.
1652, March 29. Parliamentary commissioners held jurisdiction over colony, curtailing proprietary authority.
1655, March 25. Puritans from Virginia defeated Gov. William Stone's forces at Battle of the Severn.
1657, Nov. 30. Lord Baltimore's claim to Maryland reaffirmed.
1664. Slavery sanctioned by law; slaves to serve for life.
1683, May 15. Headright system of land grants ended.
1685, Aug. 31. Printing press of William Nuthead used at St. Mary's City by this date.
1689, July-1690, May. Maryland Revolution of 1689.
1690, May-1692, April. Interim government of Protestant Associators.
1692, April-1715. Crown rule; Maryland governed as a royal colony rather than as a proprietary province.
1692. Church of England made the established church. Royal assent to establishment act given in 1702.
1694/5, Feb. Capital moved from St. Mary's City to Annapolis.
1696. King William's School (later St. John's College) founded at Annapolis.
1718. Catholics disenfranchised.
1727, Sept. Maryland Gazette began publication at Annapolis.
1729. Baltimore Town established.
1732. Establishment of boundary line with three lower counties of Pennsylvania, which later became Delaware.
1744, June 30. Native-American chiefs of the Six Nations relinquished by treaty all claims to land in colony.
1747. Tobacco inspection law enabled Maryland to control quality of exports.
1755. Gen. Edward Braddock led expedition through Maryland to the west.
1763-1767. Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon surveyed boundary line with Pennsylvania.
1765, Nov. 23. Stamp Act resistance at Frederick.
1772, March 28. Cornerstone laid for State House in Annapolis.
1774, April 19. Last colonial General Assembly prorogued.
1774, June 22. First Provincial Convention met at Annapolis.
1774, Oct. 19. Burning of the Peggy Stewart in Annapolis harbor.
1775, March 22. "Bush Declaration" signed, Harford County.
1775, July 26. Association of Freemen formed.
1775, Aug. 29. Council of Safety organized.
1776, June 26. Departure of Robert Eden, Maryland's last colonial governor.
1776, July 4. Declaration of Independence adopted in Philadelphia. Engrossed copy signed by Marylanders William Paca, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Thomas Stone, and Samuel Chase.
1776, July 6. Maryland Convention declared independence from Great Britain.
1776, Aug. 14-Nov. 11. Constitutional Convention of 1776 (meeting of Ninth Provincial Convention).
1776, Aug. 27. Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Long Island and continued to engage the British at later battles, including White Plains, and Harlem Heights.
1776, Nov. 3. Declaration of Rights (Maryland's Bill of Rights) adopted by Ninth Provincial Convention. Church of England disestablished.
1776, Nov. 8. First State Constitution adopted by Ninth Provincial Convention.
1776, Dec. 20-1777, March 4. Continental Congress met at Baltimore.
1777, Feb. 5. First General Assembly elected under State Constitution of 1776 met at Annapolis.
1777, March 21. Inauguration of Thomas Johnson, first governor elected by General Assembly. Council of Safety disbands.
1777, Sept. 11. Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania.
1780, Aug. 16. In South Carolina, Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Camden.
1781, Jan. 17. Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina.
1781, Feb. 2. Property of Loyalists and British subjects confiscated.
1781, March 1. Maryland ratified, and thereby made effective, the Articles of Confederation.
1781, March 15. In North Carolina, Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Guilford Courthouse.
1781, Sept. 8. Maryland soldiers fought at Battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina.
1781, Nov. 5. John Hanson elected President of the United States in Congress Assembled.
1782. Washington College established at Chestertown.
1783, Nov. 26-1784, June 3. Continental Congress met at Annapolis.
1783, Dec. 23. George Washington resigned commission as commander in chief of Continental Army at State House in Annapolis.
1784. St. John's College established at Annapolis.
1784, Jan. 14. Treaty of Paris, ending Revolutionary War, ratified by Congress at Annapolis.
1785, March 28. Mt. Vernon Compact, an agreement on navigation and fishing in Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay, signed by Maryland and Virginia commissioners.
1785, Aug. China trade begun with arrival of Canton cargo at Baltimore.
1785, Nov. 22. Mt. Vernon Compact ratified by Maryland.
1786, Sept. 11-14. Annapolis Convention held to discuss revisions to Articles of Confederation. Maryland sent no representatives.
1787, Sept. 17. U.S. Constitution signed by Marylanders Daniel Carroll, James McHenry, and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, at Philadelphia.
1787, Nov. 29. Luther Martin's report, The Genuine Information, criticized proposed U.S. Constitution, including its omission of a bill of rights.
1788, April 28. Maryland, the seventh state, ratified U.S. Constitution.
1789, Dec. 19. Maryland ratified federal Bill of Rights, first ten amendments to U.S. Constitution.
1791, Dec. 19. Maryland ceded land for District of Columbia.
1796. Baltimore City incorporated.
1803. Viva voce voting at elections changed to voting by ballot.
1807, Dec. 18. University of Maryland chartered as the College of Medicine of Maryland.
1810. Property qualification ended in voting for electors for president, vice-president, and congressmen.
1810. Free blacks disenfranchised.
1814, Aug. 24. Battle of Bladensburg.
1814, Sept. 12. British repulsed at Battle of North Point.
1814, Sept. 13. Bombardment of Fort McHenry, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write "Star-Spangled Banner."
1818. National Road completed from Cumberland to Wheeling, West Virginia.
1819, March 6. In M'Culloch v. Maryland, U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall interpreted Constitution to signify implied powers of federal government.
1824-1829. Chesapeake and Delaware Canal constructed through Cecil County to link Chesapeake Bay with Delaware River.
1826. Jewish enfranchisement, religious qualification for civil office removed.
1827, Feb. 28. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad chartered.
1828-1848. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal constructed (to Cumberland by 1848).
1837, May 17. The Baltimore Sun began publication.
1838, Oct. 3. Governor and State senators first elected by voters rather than by legislature.
1844, May 24. Samuel F. B. Morse demonstrated telegraph line from Washington, DC, to Baltimore.
1845, Oct. 10. U.S. Naval Academy founded at Annapolis.
1850, Nov. 4-1851, May 13. Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851.
1851, June 14. Second State Constitution adopted.
1854-1859. Rise of Know Nothing Party. Baltimore riots named city "Mobtown."
1859, Oct. 6. Maryland Agricultural College opened at College Park.
1859, Oct. 16. John Brown launched raid from Maryland on federal arsenal in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia.
1861, April 19. Sixth Massachusetts Union Regiment attacked by Baltimore mob.
1861, April 26. General Assembly met in special session at Frederick while federal troops occupied Annapolis.
1861, May 13. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Union forces occupied Baltimore.
1862, Sept. 14. Battle of South Mountain.
1862, Sept. 17. Battle of Antietam.
1863, June. Confederates invaded Maryland en route to Gettysburg.
1864, April 27-Sept. 6. Constitutional Convention of 1864.
1864, July 6. Hagerstown held for ransom by Confederates.
1864, July 9. Frederick held for ransom by Confederates.
1864, July 9. Battle of Monocacy.
1864, Oct. 12-13, 29. Gov. Bradford declared Third State Constitution adopted after soldiers' vote was added to election totals. A test oath was required of all voters.
1864, Nov. 1. Maryland slaves emancipated by State Constitution of 1864.
1867, May 8-Aug. 17. Constitutional Convention of 1867.
1867, Sept. 18. Fourth State Constitution adopted.
1876, Oct. 3. The Johns Hopkins University opened in Baltimore.
1877, Jan. 16. Maryland-Virginia boundary demarcated by Jenkins-Black Award.
1877, July 20-22. Baltimore and Ohio Railroad strikers riot at Baltimore.
1886, Jan. 5. Enoch Pratt Free Library opened in Baltimore.
1888-1889. Oyster Wars; Maryland and Virginia watermen fought on Chesapeake Bay.
1889, May 7. The Johns Hopkins Hospital dedicated in Baltimore.
1890. Australian secret ballot in elections adopted.
1893, Oct. The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine opened in Baltimore.
1894. First child labor law passed.
1902. Compulsory school attendance law passed.
1904, Feb. 7. Baltimore fire. Seventy blocks in heart of business district devastated.
1909, April 6. Matthew Henson, of Charles County, reached North Pole with Robert Peary.
1915, Nov. 2. Referendum and County Home Rule amendments adopted.
1916, Nov. 7. Executive budget process established by Constitutional amendment mandating balanced State budgets.
1917. Aberdeen Proving Ground, first testing center of U.S. Army, established.
1920. Merit system established for State employees.
1920, Nov. 2. Women voted for the first time in Maryland.
1931, March 3. "Star-Spangled Banner" adopted as national anthem.
1937. State income tax instituted.
1937, June 1. City of Greenbelt chartered, a New Deal model community.
1938, June. National Institutes of Health established in Bethesda.
1941, Dec. 7. U.S.S. Maryland among naval ships attacked at Pearl Harbor.
1944. Blue-baby operation developed at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, pioneering heart surgery era.
1947, July 1. State sales tax instituted.
1948. Montgomery became first county to adopt charter form of government.
1950, June 24. Friendship International Airport - now Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) - began operation.
1952, July 31. Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened.
1955, Sept. Desegregation of public schools begun.
1956. Voting machines used for elections throughout State.
1956, Dec. Baltimore urban renewal begun.
1957, Nov. 30. Baltimore Harbor Tunnel opened.
1959, May. Goddard Space Flight Center opened in Greenbelt.
1962, July. Baltimore Beltway (I-695) opened through Baltimore County, encircling Baltimore City.
1963, June 11. Cambridge riots. National Guard remained through May 1965.
1964, April 7. Public accommodations law enacted.
1964, Aug. 16. Capital Beltway (I-495) opened, encircling Washington, DC, by passing through Maryland's Prince George's and Montgomery counties, and Virginia.
1967, June 21. Opening of Columbia, a planned community incorporating one-tenth of the land area of Howard County.
1967, July 25. Cambridge riots.
1967, Sept. 12-1968, Jan. 10. Constitutional Convention of 1967-1968.
1968, May 14. Proposed State Constitution rejected by voters.
1969, Oct. 5. Maryland Public Television first broadcast from Owings Mills (Channel 67).
1970, Spring. Student rebellion at University of Maryland College Park.
1972, Nov. 7. First general election in Maryland where lowering of voting age to 18 years of age or older applied.
1973. Second parallel Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened.
1973. Urban "homesteading" begun in Baltimore. City sold abandoned houses for $1 each to encourage renovation.
1974, Nov. 5. Both houses of General Assembly elected, for the first time, on the basis of equal representation by population.
1975, May. Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant began operation in Calvert County.
1976. Maryland Science Center opened in Baltimore.
1976. Washington Metro, rapid transit system for national capital area, opened to link stations in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia.
1980. Maryland and Virginia established Chesapeake Bay Commission to coordinate interstate legislative planning and programs to restore Bay resources.
1980, July 2. Harborplace, a 3-acre center of restaurants and shops, opened in Baltimore City, signaling revitalization of the City's Inner Harbor.
1981. National Aquarium opened in Baltimore.
1983, Dec. 9. Chesapeake Bay Agreement to improve water quality and living resources of Bay signed by Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, District of Columbia, Chesapeake Bay Commission, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
1985. Pennsylvania joined Chesapeake Bay Commission.
1985, Nov. 24. Fort McHenry Tunnel opened.
1987, Dec. 14. Chesapeake Bay Agreement to restore and protect Bay signed by Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, District of Columbia, Chesapeake Bay Commission, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
1992, April 6. Orioles Park at Camden Yards, a stadium for the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, opened in downtown Baltimore City.
1992, May 18. Central Corridor Light Rail Line opened through Baltimore City.
1993, Sept. 10. Chesapeake Bay Partnership Agreement, to reduce pollution in Bay's tributaries by the year 2000, signed by Governor, Maryland's 23 counties, and Baltimore City.
1995, May 31. Baltimore Metro extension opened from Charles Center to Johns Hopkins Hospital.
© Copyright July 06, 1998 Maryland State Archives