850 BC archaeological excavations have provided evidence that there was an Iron Age stronghold on the Castle Rock.
1st century AD Roman occupation
626 Edinburgh founded by Edwin of Northumbria.
1018 King Malcolm II defeated the Northumbrians and Edinburgh Castle became Scottish.
1120 St Giles Cathedral founded by Alexander I.
1128 Holyrood Abbey founded by David I.
1296 Edinburgh Castle sacked by English king, Edward I.
1313 Scots recapture castle.
1322 Holyrood Abbey sacked by English.
1329 Robert the Bruce grants Edinburgh a Royal Charter.
1368 Rebuilding of castle starts.
c1450 – 1475 King's Wall built
1498 Palace of Holyrood built at site of the Abbey.
1513 Many Edinburgh men die at Battle of Flodden.
1514 – 1560 After the defeat by the English, at the battle of Flodden work on the Flodden Wall commences in an attempt to defend the city against possible invasion. It marked Edinburgh's boundary for the next 200 years.
1583 Edinburgh University founded.
1591 Canongate Tolbooth
1628-1636 the Telfer Wall which stretched down to the Grassmarket and south just beyond Greyfriars.
1632-1639 Parliament House built. The Scottish Parliament met here from 1639 to 1707.
1637 The Tron Kirk was founded.
1707 Power moves from Edinburgh to Westminster in Act of Union. Scottish parliament was dissolved. The union reduced Edinburgh's importance, but it remained the legal and cultural centre of Scotland.
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie takes Edinburgh briefly.
1761 the Royal Exchange (now the City Chambers) is completed.
21 Oct 1763 North Bridge: The first stone was laid for the North Bridge, which provided a route leading from the Old Town to the (yet to be constructed) New Town of Edinburgh. The bridge was completed in 1769.
1763 The Nor' Loch was drained.
1767 Edinburgh New Town: James Craig creates the design of the Edinburgh New Town. 1767 Building of first New Town is started. Results in the ‘Great Flitting’ from the Old Town.
1779 The Earthen Mound commenced to give a second communication between the Old Town and New Town
1787 in Anchor Close, William Smellie, editor of the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, prints edition of the Poems of Robert Burns.
1803 “During this year, a great part of the Luckenbooths was pulled down, the High Street widened where they stood, and the beautiful old Cathedral of St Giles opened to public view"
3 Feb 1820 Proclamation: Ceremony at the Cross of Edinburgh to proclaim George IV as King, following the death of George III on 29 Jan 1820.
15 Nov 1824 The most disastrous fire in the history of the City broke out, destroying many houses between the High Street and Cowgate, and the steeple of the Tron Church. Almost 400 families were made homeless.
24 Dec 1828 The trial of Burke, for the Burke & Hare murders, began in the High Court.
29 Sep 1829 The foundation-stone of the Tolbooth church was laid.
30 Jun 1830 King William IV was proclaimed at The Cross by the Lord Provost, following the death of George IV.
24 Jun 1837 Queen Victoria was proclaimed at The Cross, the Castle and Holyrood House
22 Feb 1854 Several people lost their lives when a large section of the City Wall and embankment beside Leith Wynd collapsed.
15 Aug 1857 A nine-storey tenement at top of the Mound is gutted by fire.
24 Nov 1861 The living conditions had become very overcrowded in the tenement buildings of Old Edinburgh, with outbreaks of cholera. In 1861, an eight-storey tenement in the High Street collapsed, killing 35 of its 77 inhabitants
1867 Following several years of health problems and the collapse of a High Street tenement in 1861, debate took place in Edinburgh, resulting in the passing of the Edinburgh Improvement Act in 1867..
20 Oct 1875 North Bridge re-opened after having been widened and its level raised 18 inches.
1856 The Canongate, until then a separate burgh, becomes part of Edinburgh.
11 Apr 1895 Electric Light installed in Edinburgh.
25 May 1896 The foundation-stone for the new North Bridge was laid.
1947 First Edinburgh Festival.
1995 the Old and New Towns of Edinburgh declared a World Heritage Site.
1999 Parliament re-convened in the Old Town.
December 7, 2002 major fire in the Old Town affects part of Cowgate
9 October 2004 new Parliament building opens.
