By Tim Lambert
1810
A man named Tregonwell buys land and builds the first house at Bournemouth
1836
Sir George Tapps-Gervis decides to create a seaside resort at Bournemouth
1837-38
Westover Villas is built
1838
The Bath Hotel is built
1840
The stagecoach from Christchurch to London begins to call at Bournemouth
1851
The Church of St Peters is consecrated. Bournemouth has a population of 695.
1856
The Bournemouth police force is founded. A body of men is given powers to pave and clean the streets.
1864
Bournemouth gains gas light
1866
Bournemouth gains a piped water supply
1870
The railway reaches Bournemouth
1874
The Winter Gardens are laid out. The Boscombe Chine Hotel is built.
1877
Red House is built
1881
The population of Bournemouth is 16,859
1882
The Theatre Royal is built
1884
The boundaries of Bournemouth are extended to include Westbourne
1885
The Mont Dore Hotel is built
1889
Boscombe Pier is built
1891
Bournemouth has a population of 37,000
1893
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is formed
1895
The first library in Bournemouth opens
1901
The population of Bournemouth is 59,000. Electric trams begin running in Bournemouth.
1922
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum is founded
1929
The Pavilion is built
1936
Bournemouth suffers a typhoid epidemic
1963
Rothesay Museum opens
1984
Bournemouth International Centre opens
1992
Bournemouth University is founded
1997
Bournemouth is made a unitary authority
2003
Castlepoint Shopping Centre opens. So does a new library.