History Timeline
| Glasgow's Origins | |
6th Century | Early settlement founded by St Mungo (also known as Saint Kentigern) on the River Clyde. |
| 1175 | Bishop Jocelyn secures a charter from King William making Glasgow a Burgh. |
| 1238 | Work begins on Glasgow Cathedral symbolising the city’s role as a major ecclesiastical centre. |
| 1450 | Glasgow becomes a Burgh of Regality. |
| 1451 | The University of Glasgow founded at its original site in High Street, making it the second oldest in Scotland and the fourth oldest in the UK. |
| 16th-18th Centuries | |
| 1568 | Battle of Langside at which Mary Queen of Scots loses her crown and kingdom. |
| 1636 | Glasgow becomes a Royal Burgh. |
| c.1690 | The city begins to rise out of its mediaeval slumber. |
| 1707 | Treaty of Union with England allows increased trade with colonies. |
| 1720 | Glasgow now a major port, overtaking Liverpool, Bristol and Whitehaven in importance through the success in the tobacco trade with Virginia. |
| 1723 | Daniel Defoe describes Glasgow as 'the beautifullest little city I have seen in Britain.' |
| 1770 | Dredging of the River Clyde establishes Glasgow as a deep water port. Shipbuilding established helping the city to survive the threat of the American War of Independence and the subsequent collapse of the tobacco trade. |
| 1780 | The creation of the textile and chemical industries signals the start of the Industrial Revolution |
| 19th Century | |
| 1811 | Glasgow becomes the second city of the British Empire. It is now larger than any other city in Britain outside London. |
| 1842 | Creation of the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow’s rapidly expanding West End. |
| 1850 | Water from Loch Katrine in the Trossachs provides Glasgow with the best water supply in Great Britain. |
| 1870 | Glasgow University moves to its present site on Gilmorehill. |
| 1888 | The International Exhibition at Kelvingrove Park. |
| 1896 | Opening of the Glasgow Underground. |
| 20th Century | |
| 1900 | Glasgow reaches its peak of industrial production. |
| 1901 | The International Exhibition and opening of the Glasgow Museum and Art Gallery in Kelvingrove Park. |
| 1938 | Empire Exhibition in Bellahouston Park. |
| 1983 | Opening of the world famous Burrell Collection in its purpose built gallery in Pollok Country Park. |
| 1983 | Greater Glasgow Tourist Board is established as a destination marketing organisation. |
| 1985 | Opening of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. |
| 1987 | Opening of Princes Square shopping centre. |
| 1987 | Greater Glasgow Tourist Board creates a dedicated business tourism division. Organisation now known as Greater Glasgow Tourist Board & Convention Bureau. |
| 1988 | Glasgow hosts the National Garden Festival attracts 4.3 million visitors. |
| 1990 | Glasgow marks its reign as Cultural Capital of Europe with a year long festival of over 3,000 events and the opening of Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. |
| 1990 | Glasgow International Airport adopts an “open skies” policy allowing it to develop its role as Scotland’s Gateway Airport. |
| 1993 | Opening of the new St Mungo’s Museum- the UK’s only Museum of Religion - sited appropriately on Cathedral Square next to the city’s finest historic 13th century cathedral. |
| 1996 | Greater Glasgow Tourist Board & Convention Bureau and Clyde Valley Tourist Board merge to form Greater Glasgow & Clyde Valley Tourist Board. |
| 1996 | Glasgow puts together a sustained city-wide Festival of Architecture and Design, the largest ever of its kind, and covering a four-year period. The celebrations commence with the Glasgow Festival of Visual Arts 1996, which comprise: |
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| 1997 | Glasgow hosts over 24,000 delegates attending the Rotary International Convention (June) Opening of new £38 million Clyde Auditorium as a satellite addition to the Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre. (September) Glasgow hosts more than 5,000 delegates attending the 67th American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) World Congress - the Association’s first ever UK visit. (September) |
| 1999 | Glasgow celebrates its reign as UK City of Architecture and Design 1999. |
| Opening of Braehead Centre – offering more than one million square feet of retail and leisure space. | |
| 21st Century | |
| 2000 | The IMAX Theatre at Glasgow Science Centre opens. |
| World Curling Championships held at Braehead. British Cardiac Society Annual Conference and Exhibition is held at the SECC and attended by over 2000 delegates. | |
| 2001 | University of Glasgow celebrates its 550th anniversary. |
| £75 million Glasgow Science Centre opens to the public. New Lanark Village is awarded World Heritage Status. Opening of the Museum of Scottish Country Life, Kittochside. | |
| 2002 | The city of Glasgow and Hampden Park play host to the UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen on 15th May. |
| The World Association of Flower Arrangers hold their 7th World Flower Show ‘Floramondi’ at Glasgow’s SECC in June with over 32,000 attendees. Glasgow plays host to the World Irish Dancing Championships in March, the first time the competition had been held outside Ireland. | |