Timeline of Havana

The following is a timeline of the history of Havana, Cuba.

Prior to 18th century

1514 – Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar founds settlement.
1519 - Current location of the city
1537 – Town sacked.[1]
1555 – Town sacked by Jacques de Sores.[2]
1577 – Castillo de la Real Fuerza built.
1578 – Church of Santo Domingo built.[3]
1589 – Governor's residence relocated to Havana from Santiago de Cuba.[1]
1591 – Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis built.
1592 – City status granted.[4]
1607 – Havana becomes capital of Cuba.[5]
1608 – San Agustin church built.[1]
1630 – San Salvador de la Punta Fortress built.
1640 – Morro Castle built.[1]
1644 – Convent of Santa Clara founded.[4][6]
1648 – Epidemic.[4]
1668 – Church of San Francisco de Paula (Havana) construction begins.
1688 – Recollect Dominicans of Santa Cataline de Siena founded.[6]
1693 – San Felipe church built.[1]
1700
- Discalced Carmelites of Santa Teresa de Jesus founded.[6]
- Santa Catalina church built.[1]

18th century

1702 – City walls built.[1]
1704 – Jesuit college built.[1]
1728 – Royal and Pontifical University of Saint Jerome established (University of Havana).[7]

Map of Havana, 1739

Plan of Havana, 1758

Map of Havana, 1762

Detail of the plan of the city, port and castles of San Christobal de La Habana-1776

1748 – Battle of Havana.
1762 – Battle of Havana; British in power.[8]
1763 – 6 July: Spanish in power per Treaty of Paris (1763).[9]
1767 – Castillo de Atarés built.[3]
1768
- Hurricane.[1]
- New city districts established: Campeche (including barrios San Francisco, San Isidro, Santa Paula, Santa Teresa) and La Punte (including barrios El Angel, Dragones, La Estrella, Monserrate).[10][11]
1772 – Paseo del Prado laid out (approximate date).
1774 – La Cabaña fortress built.
1775 – El Coleseo (theatre) built on the Alameda de Paula.[4]
1777 – Cathedral of Havana built.[4]
1780 – Castle del Príncipe built.[1]
1781 –
- Hospital de San Lazaro, Havana
1787 – Roman Catholic diocese of San Cristóbal de la Habana established.[12]
1789 – Bishopric established.[1]
1791 – Population: 51,307.[1]
1792
- Sociedad Económica de los Amigos del País de la Habana established.[7]
- Palace built.[1]
1794
- Consulado (merchant guild) established.[13]
- La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad de La Habana[1]
1799
- Bateria de Santa Clara, 1799 File:Battery of Santa Clara areal. Havana, Cuba.jpg

19th century

Map of Havana. 1853

Map of Havana. 1866

Map of Havana, 1888

Map of Havana, 1898

Map of Havana, 2016

1806 - Espada Cemetery|
1810 – Hurricane.[1]
1811 – Population: 94,023.[1]
1813 – El Lucero de la Habana newspaper begins publication.
1817
- Botanical Gardens established.[14]
- La Piña de Plata eatery in business.
1828 – El Templete built in the Plaza de Armas.[1]
1832 – El Noticioso y Lucero de la Habana newspaper begins publication.
1834 – President's Palace built.[3]
1835
- Fernando VII aqueduct constructed.[1]
- Mercado de Cristina (market) built on Plaza Vieja.[15]
1837 – Railway (Havana-Bejucal), Mercado de Cristina, and city jail[1] constructed.
1838 – Teatro Tacón opens.[4]
1840 – Plaza del Vapor
1841 - Population: 184,508.[1]
1844
- Liceo Artistico y Literario de la Habana (lyceum) founded.[16][17]
- Palacio de Aldama built.[18]
1846 – Great Havana Hurricane.
1847 – Premiere of Bottesini's opera Cristoforo Colombo.[19]
1853
- Susini cigarette factory in operation.[20]
- Revista de la Habana literary magazine begins publication.[4]
1854 – Colegio de Belén founded.[7]
- Plaza del Vapor, Havana
1856 – Hotel Inglaterra built.[14]
1861 – Royal Academy of Medical, Physical, and Natural Sciences established.[7][21]
1863
- Fuente de la India (fountain) installed in Parque Central.
- City walls dismantled.
1868
- El Ansador Comercial begins publication.[1]
- Colon Cemetery inaugurated.[22]
1871 – 27 November: Students executed.[3]^(es)
1876 – Hotel Pasaje built.[23]
1877
- Villalba palace built.[14]
- Payret Theatre opens.[24]
1878
- Acueducto de Albear inaugurated.
- City becomes part of La Habana Province.
1880 – Colegio de Abogados de La Habana (bar association) founded.[7]
1881 – Jane Theater-Circus built.[14]
1882 – School of arts and trades opens.[1]
1884 – La Lucha newspaper begins publication.[1]
1888 – La Discusion newspaper begins publication.[1]
1889 – Population: 200,000.[25]
1890 – Alhambra Theatre opens.[26]
1894 – Manzana de Gómez built.[14]
1898 – 15 February: United States Navy Ship Maine explosion.[27][1]
1899
- U.S. military occupation begins.[1]
- Population: 235,981.[1]

20th century

Map of Havana, 1909

1900s–1940s

1901
- Biblioteca Nacional José Martí (library) established.[1]
- Malecón (esplanade) construction begins.
1902
- 20 May: U.S. occupation of Cuba ends. Republic of Cuba promulgated.
- El Mundo[1] and Tierra newspapers begin publication.[28]
1905 – Petroleum refinery in operation.[1]
1907
- Palace of the Association of Store Clerks built.[14]
- Population: 297,159.[1]
- Sociedad de Ingenieros y Arquitectos de Cuba (engineering society) headquartered in city.[7]
1908
- Partido Independiente de Color (political party) founded in Havana.[29]
- Bohemia magazine begins publication.[30]
- Hotel Sevilla built.
1909 – Lonja del Comercio building (stock exchange) and Hotel Plaza constructed.[14]
1910 – Pimp Alberto Yarini is killed in the San Isidro barrio of Old Havana.
1913
- National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana founded.
- El Heraldo de Cuba newspaper begins publication.[31]
1917
- Manzana de Gómez shopping arcade built.[4]
- Club Atenas organized.[29]
1919
- Florida West Indies Airways begins flights to/from Key West, USA.[20]
- Population: 363,506 city; 697,583 province.[32]
- La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad during cyclone of 1919 with the statute of Antonio Maceo in the background.
1920
- Museum of the Revolution (Presidential Palace before 1959) built.[14]
- Biblioteca Municipal (library)[33] and Ruston Academy[34] established.
1923 – Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus built.
1925 Colegio de Belen, designed by Leonardo Morales y Pedroso is built.
1927 – Regina Theatre[26] and Centro Asturiano open.[14]
1928
- January–February: Pan-American Conference held in Havana.
- Parque de la Fraternidad Americana (park) and Teatro Auditorium[4] inaugurated.
1929 – National Capitol Building constructed.[4]
1930
- Hotel Nacional de Cuba opens.
- Rancho Boyeros Airport begins operating.
- Bacardi Building constructed.[35]
1934 – Orquesta de Cámara de La Habana (musical group) formed.[30]
1938 – Office of the Historian of Havana created; Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring becomes city historian.[36]
1939
- Tropicana Club in business.
- Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame inaugurated.
- Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club formed.[34]
1945 – International Air Transport Association founded in Havana.
1946
- Havana Conference held.
- Manuel Fernandez Supervielle becomes mayor.
1947
- Radiocentro CMQ Building
1948 – Cuban National Ballet founded.

1950s–1990s

1952 - 1952 Cuban coup d'état
1953 – Iglesia de Jesús de Miramar (church) and Embassy of the United States built.
1954 - Cuban general election
1956 – FOCSA Building.
1957
- 13 March: Presidential Palace Attack.
- Supreme Court building constructed on Plaza Cívica.[10]
- Coliseo de la Ciudad Deportiva (arena) opens.
1958
- November: Rafael Guas Inclán elected mayor.
- José Martí Memorial erected in Plaza Cívica.
- 1958 Cuban general election
- Andrés Rivero Agüero is the last democratically elected president of Cuba under the 1940 Constitution.
1959
- January: Revolutionary forces take city.[37]
- Instituto Nacional de Ahorro y Vivienda (housing agency) headquartered in Havana.[38]
- Plaza del Vapor demolished by the Castro government.[39]
- Plaza Cívica renamed "Plaza de la Revolución".
1960 – International Ballet Festival of Havana begins.
1961
- Cuban Ministry of the Interior headquartered in Havana.
- Instituto Tecnico Militar established.
1962 – Cuban National Ballet School established.
1963 – Cuban Journalists Union headquartered in Havana.[40]
1964
- Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino becomes Catholic archbishop of Havana.
- Population: 940,700 city; 1,517,700 urban agglomeration.[41]
1965
- Palacio de la Revolución in use as headquarters of the Communist Party.
- International School of Havana established.
1968 – Jardín botánico Nacional de Cuba (garden) established.[42]
1970 - Population: 1,008,500 city; 1,751,216 urban agglomeration.[43]
1971 – Danza Contemporanea de Cuba active.
1975 – December: 1st Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba held in Havana.
1976 – Arroyo Naranjo, Boyeros, Centro Habana, Cerro, Cotorro, Diez de Octubre, Guanabacoa, La Habana del Este, La Habana Vieja, La Lisa, Marianao, Playa, Plaza de la Revolución, Regla, San Miguel del Padrón administrative municipalities created.
1977 – Ministerio de Cultura de la República de Cuba's Editorial Letras Cubanas publishing house headquartered in Havana.[40]
1978 – City hosts World Festival of Youth and Students.
1979
- Havana Film Festival begins.
- Palacio de las Convenciones built.
1982
- Old Havana designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site.[5]
- Havana International Book Fair begins.
1983 – Centro de Investigaciones Psicológicas y Sociológicas headquartered in Havana.
1984 – Havana Biennial Art Exhibition begins.
1987
- Grupo para el Desarrollo Integral de la Capital (urban planning group) formed.[10]
- Russian embassy built.[44]
- Instituto de Historia de Cuba headquartered in Havana.
1991
- Estadio Panamericano (stadium) opens.
- 1991 Pan American Games held in Havana.
1993 - Population: 2,175,888 city (estimate).[45]
1994
- August 1994 protest in Cuba.
- Bán Rarra group active.[46]
- Meliá Cohiba Hotel in business.
1998 – January: Catholic Pope visits Havana.
1999 – Population: 2,189,716 city; 2,891,500 province.[40]

21st century

2001 – Ballet Rakatan founded.
2003
- Damas de Blanco protest begins.
- Juan Contino Aslán becomes mayor.[47]
2005 – December: World Trade Union Congress held in city.[48]
2011
- April: 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba held in Havana.
- Marta Hernández Romero becomes mayor.
2012 – Population: 2,105,291.[49]
2014
- Fábrica de Arte Cubano cultural space established.
- Population: 2,121,871.[50]
2015
- January: United States–Cuban talks held in Havana.[37][51]
- September: Catholic pope visits city.[52]
2016
- March: U.S. president Obama visits Havana.
- April 7: Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba held in Havana.
2019
- An EF4 tornado seriously damage the city and kills at least three.[53]
- Havana's celebrates its 500th Anniversary of founding.[54]
2022 - Hotel Saratoga explosion

References

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"Cuba". Political Chronology of the Americas. Europa Publications. 2001. ISBN 978-1-85743-118-6.
Baedeker 1909.
Bonavía 2003.
"Old Havana and its Fortification System". World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
John James Clune (2001). "A Cuban Convent in the Age of Enlightened Reform: The Observant Franciscan Community of Santa Clara of Havana, 1768–1808". The Americas. 57.
"Cuba". Handbook of Learned Societies and Institutions: America. Publication ;no. 39. USA: Carnegie Institution of Washington. 1908. hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t5t72q98c.
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Maria Dolores González-Ripoll Navarro (1999). Cuba, la isla de los ensayos: cultura y sociedad (1790–1815) (in Spanish). Madrid: Spanish National Research Council. ISBN 978-84-00-07852-2.
"Chronology of Catholic Dioceses: Cuba". Norway: Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
Ralph Lee Woodward Jr. (2013) [2005], "Merchant Guilds", in Cynthia Clark Northrup (ed.), Encyclopedia of World Trade, Routledge, ISBN 9780765682680
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Ramírez 1891.
Joaquín Llaverías Martínez [in Spanish] (1944), Catálogo de los fondos del Liceo Artístico y Literario de la Habana (in Spanish), Archivo Nacional de la República de Cuba
Philippou 2014.
Robert Murrell Stevenson (1992), "Havana", New Grove Dictionary of Opera, New York, ISBN 0935859926{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Patrick Robertson (2011). Robertson's Book of Firsts. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-60819-738-5.
Pedro M. Pruna (1994). "National Science in a Colonial Context: The Royal Academy of Sciences of Havana, 1861–1898". Isis. 85 (3): 412–426. doi:10.1086/356890. JSTOR 235461. S2CID 143229761.
Bankers' Loan and Securities Company, New Orleans (1916), The Republic of Cuba, New Orleans, OL 22892116M{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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Waldo Jiménez de la Romera (1887), Cuba, Puerto-Rico y Filipinas (in Spanish), Barcelona: D. Cortezo y ca., OCLC 3153821
Karl August Zehden (1889), Commercial Geography, London: Blacke & Son, Limited
Susan Thomas (2008), Cuban Zarzuela: Performing Race and Gender on Havana's Lyric Stage, University of Illinois Press, ISBN 9780252033315, OL 10227809M, 0252033310
"On This Day", New York Times, retrieved 1 June 2015
Kirwin R. Shaffer (2009). "Havana Hub: Cuban Anarchism, Radical Media and the Trans-Caribbean Anarchist Network, 1902–1915". Caribbean Studies. 37 (2): 45–81. doi:10.1353/crb.2010.0018. JSTOR 25702369. S2CID 145625074.
Kwame Anthony Appiah; Henry Louis Gates, eds. (2005). Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-517055-9.
Daniel Balderston; Mike Gonzalez; Ana M. Lopez, eds. (2000). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean Cultures. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-78852-1.
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Miguel Viciedo Valdés (2005), "Breve reseña sobre la biblioteca pública en Cuba antes de 1959", Acimed (in Spanish), Havana: Centro Nacional de Informacion de Ciencias Medicas, vol. 14, no. 1, ISSN 1024-9435
"Cuban Heritage Collection". University of Miami Libraries. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
"Mexico and Central America, 1900 A.D.: Key Events". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
"Oficina del Historiador" (in Spanish). Havana: Dirección de Patrimonio Cultural. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
"Cuba Profile: Timeline", BBC News, 12 September 2012, retrieved 1 September 2015
Ruslan Muñoz Hernández; Gabriela González González (2015). "Labor desarrollada por el Instituto Nacional de Ahorro y Vivienda (INAV) en La Habana (1959–1962)" [The Work of the National Institute of Savings and Housing (INAV) in Havana (1959–1962)]. Revista INVI (in Spanish). Chile. 30 (84): 89–120. doi:10.4067/S0718-83582015000200004.
"Los proyectos inconclusos o fracasados de Fidel Castro". Retrieved 2020-01-18.
South America, Central America and the Caribbean 2002. Regional Surveys of the World. Europa Publications. 2001. ISBN 978-1-85743-121-6.
"Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 1965. New York: Statistical Office of the United Nations. 1966.
"Garden Search: Cuba". London: Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
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"Demolition dreams: the world's 'worst' buildings", Financial Times, 31 October 2014
"Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 and more inhabitants". 1995 Demographic Yearbook. New York: United Nations Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, Statistics Division. 1997. pp. 262–321.
Rebecca M. Bodenheimer (2015). Geographies of Cubanidad: Place, Race, and Musical Performance in Contemporary Cuba. USA: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-62674-684-8.
"El alcalde invisible". El Mundo (in Spanish). Spain. 2 November 2009.
Richard Green (2004). Chronology of International Organizations. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-35590-6.
"Population of Capital Cities and Cities of 100,000 or More Inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 2013. United Nations Statistics Division.
"Population of Capital Cities and Cities of 100,000 or More Inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 2014. United Nations Statistics Division.
"Chronicle of 2015". Annual Register. 2016. ISSN 0266-6170. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
"Cuba: Pope Francis celebrates Mass before thousands", BBC News, 20 September 2015
"Cuba tornado: Three killed and more than 170 injured in Havana as deadly cyclone hits capital". The Independent. 28 January 2019. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
Staff writer (19 April 2019). "Culture celebrates Havana's 500th Anniversary". The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 20 March 2021.

Bibliography

Published in the 18th–19th century

in English

Jedidiah Morse (1797), "Havannah", The American Gazetteer, Boston: S. Hall, and Thomas & Andrews
R. H. Bonnycastle (1819). "Havannah". Spanish America. Philadelphia: A. Small.
C. D. Tyng (1868), The Stranger in the Tropics: Being a Hand-book for Havana, New York: American News Co.
George Henry Townsend (1877), "Havana", A Manual of Dates (5th ed.), London: Frederick Warne & Co., hdl:2027/wu.89097349427
Charles Morris (1899), "Havana", Our Island Empire: a Hand-book of Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippine Islands, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, OCLC 541085
Abel Linares (1899). Cuba, an illustrated guide book on the island. Havana: Wilson's International Book Store.
Jose de Olivares (1899), "Havana: the Key of the New Possessions", Our Islands and Their People as Seen with Camera and Pencil, vol. 1, USA: N.D. Thompson, pp. 19–32 – via Internet Archive
Albert James Norton (1900), Norton's Complete Hand-book of Havana and Cuba, Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co., OCLC 4617287, OL 13488445M

in Spanish

Ordenanzas municipales de la ciudad de La Habana (in Spanish). Imprenta del gobierno y capitania general. 1855.
José María de la Torre (1857). Lo que fuimos y lo que somos, o, La Habana antiqua y moderna [Havana, Past and Present] (in Spanish). Spencer y Compania.
Jacobo de la Pezuela (1863). "Habana: Historia". Diccionario geografico, estadístico, historico, de la isla de Cuba (in Spanish). Vol. 3. Madrid: Mellado. hdl:2027/uc1.32106019739058 – via HathiTrust. (chronology)
"Profesiones de la Isla de Cuba: Provincia de la Habana", Directorio Hispano-Americano (in Spanish), Habana: Caine y Carricaburu, 1879, hdl:2027/uc1.31175012500693 – via HathiTrust
Serafín Ramírez (1891). La Habana Artística: Apuntes Históricos (in Spanish). Habana: Capitania General.

Published in the 20th century

in English

"Havana". Chambers's Encyclopaedia. London. 1901. hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t1fj2r624.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
José Toribio Medina (1904). La imprenta en La Habana (1707–1810) (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Elzeviriana – via HathiTrust. (Annotated list of titles published in Havana, arranged chronologically)
"Havana", The United States, with Excursions to Mexico, Cuba, Porto Rico, and Alaska (4th ed.), Leipzig: K. Baedeker, 1909
Charles B. Reynolds (1909), "Havana", Standard Guide to Cuba, Havana: Foster & Reynolds, OCLC 21914222
"Havana" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). 1910. pp. 76–78.
Benjamin Vincent (1910), "Havana", Haydn's Dictionary of Dates (25th ed.), London: Ward, Lock & Co., hdl:2027/loc.ark:/13960/t89g6g776 – via Hathi Trust
New York Public Library (1912). "Cuba: History and Description: Havana (City)". List of Works Relating to the West Indies. USA. pp. 170–74.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
J.W. Sanger (1919), "Publications in Habana", Advertising Methods in Cuba, Special Agents Series, Washington DC: United States Department of Commerce, pp. 226 v, hdl:2027/nyp.33433023652054
U.S. Merchant Marine, Social Service Bureau (1920). "Havana, Cuba". Seaman's Handbook for Shore Leave (2nd ed.). Boston: Custom House.
Walker Evans: Havana 1933. Thames and Hudson. 1989.
Juliet Barclay (1993). Havana: Portrait of a City. Cassell Illustrated. ISBN 978-1-84403-127-6.
Sergio Díaz-Briquets (1994). "Cuba". In Gerald Michael Greenfield (ed.). Latin American Urbanization: Historical Profiles of Major Cities. Greenwood Press. pp. 173–87. ISBN 0313259372. (Includes profile of Havana)
Trudy Ring and Robert M. Salkin, ed. (1995). "Havana". Americas. International Dictionary of Historic Places. Routledge. pp. 279+. ISBN 978-1-134-25930-4.
Jean-François Lejeune, John Beusterien and Narciso G. Menocal (1996). "The City as Landscape: Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier and the Great Urban Works of Havana, 1925–1930". Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts. 22. ISSN 2326-4632.
Carlos Venegas Fornias, Narciso G. Menocal and Edward Shaw (1996). "Havana between Two Centuries". Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts.

in Spanish

"Gremios de la Habana", Directorio mercantil de la Isla de Cuba (in Spanish), Habana: Imprenta 'Avisador Comercial', 1901, hdl:2027/nyp.33433016910840 – via HathiTrust + Directoria de las calles de la Habana (etc.)
"Republica Cubana: Habana". Anuario del comercio, de la industria, de la magistratura y de la administracion de España, sus colonias, Cuba, Puerto-Rico y Filipinas, estados hispano-americanos y Portugal (in Spanish). Vol. 4. Madrid: Bailly-Bailliere e Hijos. 1908. pp. 14–220. hdl:2027/njp.32101065143677.
Eusebio Leal Spengler (1988). La Habana, ciudad antigua (in Spanish). Editorial Letras Cubanas.

Published in the 21st century