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Pre-1600 - Lenape Indians inhabit the area.
1663 - The English invade the New Netherlands colony, gaining control over the area of modern day Philadelphia.
1681 - Charles II grants William Penn a charter for the area of Pennsylvania. Due to his Quaker beliefs that all
men are equal, Penn also purchased the area from the Lenape. This earned a large degree of peace with
the Native Americans.
1682 - William Penn establishes Philadelphia, Chester and Bucks counties.
1719 - Philadelphia's first newspaper is published, the American Weekly Mercury.
1723 - Benjamin Franklin arrives in Philadelphia.
1729 - A Brief Examination of the Practice of the Times by Ralph Sandiford, the first book denouncing slavery,
is published.
1740 - America's first university, The University of Pennsylvania is founded.
1744 - Construction is completed on Christ Church. It was widely seen as the most beautiful church in all the
English colonies.
1752 - The first hospital in the English colonies opens in Philadelphia.
1766 - Queen's College is founded. In 1825, it is renamed Rutgers after Revolutionary War hero Colonel
Henry Rutgers.
1774 - The First Continental Congress is held at Carpenter's Hall.
1776 - The Declaration of Independence is signed at Independence Hall.
1777 - British forces occupy Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. They would leave less than a year later to
defend New York City.
1787 - The Constitutional Convention takes place at Independence Hall.
1790 - Philadelphia is selected as the site for the temporary national capital.
1842 - Villanova University is founded.
1851 - St. Joseph's University is founded.
1861-1863 - While escaping major invasion, Philadelphia suffers from internal strife during the Civil War.
1863 - LaSalle University is founded.
1864 - Swarthmore College is founded.
1876 - President Ulysses S. Grant attends the opening of the Centennial Exposition, the first world's fair in
the United States.
1877 - The Philadelphia Museum of Art opens.
1884 - Temple University and Philadelphia University are founded.
1891 - The Free Library of Philadelphia is established. Within seven years, it had the largest circulation of books
in the world.
1891 - Drexel University is founded.
1901 - Philadelphia City Hall is completed. It would be the tallest building in the world until 1908.
1907 - The Market-Frankford Line opens.
1914 - Northeast Boulevard opens. Four years later, it would be renamed for Theodore Roosevelt.
1918 - Influenza strikes the city hard, leaving 12,000 people dead in little more than one month.
1922 - WIP hits the airwaves.
1926 - The Delaware River Bridge (today the Benjamin Franklin Bridge) opens.
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