General Information » Usa Overview » New York Timeline

1524 Giovanni de Verrazzano sails into New York, renames it after a French king and sails right back out

1613 The Dutch Fur Settlement was established, and the Dutch West India Company sends over 100 settlers to try and fill the place. City renamed

New Amsterdam

1626 First governor, Peter Minuit, trades land with the indigenous tribe,

the Lenape

1664 The British take over and rename it New York

1783 George Washington reclaims New York

1788 New York becomes the first capital of the United States of America

1789 George Washington inaugurated first president in the Federal Hall Building on Wall Street

1853 Work on Central Park begins

1863 The Draft Riots ravage the city

1883 Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge is completed (after 13 years)

1886 The Statue of Liberty is unveiled

1898 The Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens are joined to form New York City

1892 - 1954 An estimated 15 million immigrants stream through Ellis Island

1904 The New York City Subway opens

1929 New York stock market crashes and the Great Depression begins

1931 Empire State Building is officially opened

1934 Fiorello La Guardia takes over as Mayor from the corrupt James J. Walker (resigned 1932)

1952 UN Headquarters is built

1977 The New York City Blackout lasts for two days and the subsequent riots and looting mark a lowpoint in New York's history

1980 John Lennon is murdered in front of his apartment near Central Park

2001 Terrorist attacks destroy the twin towers of the World Trade Center

2011 Freedom Tower is due to open in the place where the Trade Center towers stood