By Tim Lambert
c. 750 Aberdeen is founded as a fishing settlement
1137 Aberdeen has grown into a busy little port and market town. It is given a bishop.
1179 Aberdeen is given a charter (a document giving the people certain rights). Aberdeen has a population of around 3,000.
1264 Aberdeen now has a castle
1221 Black friars arrive in Aberdeen
1336 The English burn Aberdeen
1350 The Black Death reaches Aberdeen
1363 A leper hostel if founded outside Aberdeen
1450 The population of Aberdeen is about 4,000
1495 Kings College is founded
1545 Provost Skene’s House is built
1593 Marischal College is founded
1644 The Marquis of Montrose and his men plunder Aberdeen
1647 Plague strikes Aberdeen
1686 The Market Cross is built
1721 The streets of Aberdeen are lit by oil lamps
1741 The Royal Infirmary is built
1775 The Robert Gordon Institute of Technology opens
1780 North Pier is built
1801 Aberdeen has a population of 27,000
1817 St Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral is built
1823 Bon Accord Square is laid out
1824 Aberdeen gains gas street light
1850 The railway reaches Aberdeen
1860 Kings and Marischal Colleges join to find Aberdeen University
1871 Victoria Park is laid out
1874 City Hospital opens
1883 Duthie Park is laid out
1885 An Art Gallery is built in Aberdeen
1888 The Wallace statue is erected
1894 The first electricity generating station in Aberdeen opens
1899 Electric trams begin running
1901 Westburn Park is laid out
1908 Aberdeen gains its first cinema
1938 The Northern Hotel opens
1940 Bon Accord swimming pool is built
1967 St Nicholas House is built
1971 Granite production in Aberdeen ends
1975 The first North Sea oil arrives in Aberdeen
1982 The Fish Market is built
1984 Trinity Centre opens
1990 The Bon Accord Shopping Centre opens
1994 Telford Dock is rebuilt
1996 Aberdeen is made a unitary authority
1997 The Maritime Museum and the Gordon Highlanders Museum open