By Tim Lambert
1100 A town grows up near a castle in Edinburgh
1128 David I founds Holyrood Abbey
1296 The English capture Edinburgh Castle
1300 Edinburgh is well known for making wool cloth. It is exported from Leith.
1322 The Scots recapture Edinburgh Castle
1329 Edinburgh is given a charter (a document granting the townspeople certain rights).
1385 The English burn St Giles Kirk and Edinburgh Town Hall
1500 Edinburgh is a flourishing town with a population of about 12,000. (By the standards of the time it was a large town).
1513-1560 A wall is built south of Edinburgh
1547 The English sack Edinburgh Castle
c. 1570 Huntly House is built
1583 Edinburgh University is founded
1585 Plague strikes Edinburgh
1591 Canongate Tolbooth is built
1593 Lauriston Castle is built
1604 Plague strikes Edinburgh again
1620 Gladstones land is built
1621 Thatched roofs are banned in Edinburgh because of the risk of fire
1633 Acheson House is built. Charles I is crowned king in Edinburgh.
1645 Plague strikes Edinburgh once more
1650 The English occupy Edinburgh
1670 The Botanic Garden is founded
1685 A statue of King Charles II is erected in Edinburgh
1688 Canongate Kirk is built
1700 The population of Edinburgh is about 50,000
1759 The Nor Loch, a body of water north of Edinburgh is drained
1767 A competition is held for the best plan to build a new town on the land north of Edinburgh (because the old town is getting very overcrowded). The competition is won by James Craig.
1772 North Bridge is built
1783 The Royal Edinburgh Society is founded
1787 The Assembly Rooms are built
1791 Charlotte Square is built
1801 The population of Edinburgh is approaching 100,000
1816 The Nelson Monument is erected
1832 Cholera strikes Edinburgh
1842 The railway reaches Edinburgh
1846 The Scott Monument is erected
1848-49 Edinburgh suffers another outbreak of cholera
1851 The population of Edinburgh reaches 170,000
1870 The Royal Infirmary is built
1889 The National Portrait Gallery opens
1895 Edinburgh is lit by electricity
1903 The Floral Clock is made
1914 Usher Hall opens
1927 The Scottish National War Memorial is built
1932 The Museum of Edinburgh opens
1933 Portobello Swimming Pool opens
1947 The first Edinburgh Festival is held
1955 The Museum of Childhood opens
1963 Traverse Theatre opens
1970 St James Shopping Centre opens
1980 The City Art Centre opens
1984 Cameron Toll Shopping Centre opens
1985 Princes Mall opens
1989 The Peoples Story Museum opens
1993 The Gyles Shopping Centre opens
1995 The International Conference Centre opens in Edinburgh
1997 The Scottish Tartan Museum opens
1999 The Scottish Parliament opens in Edinburgh
2001 Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre opens
2006 The National Museum of Scotland is formed
2014 Edinburgh tram system begins