The following is a timeline of the history of the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan.
18th century
1701 - Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, accompanied by approximately one hundred fellow Frenchmen and an additional one hundred Algonquian Indians, established Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit on a site that is today in downtown Detroit. July 24: Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac, with his lieutenant Alphonse de Tonty and a company of 100 men, establishes a trading post on the Detroit River under orders from the French king Louis XIV. They named it Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, in homage to the Count of Pontchartrain, the Royal Minister of Marine. Ste. Anne de Detroit Catholic Church is the first building built in Detroit, started within two days of Cadillac's landing. 1712 - Fort besieged by Fox and Sauk; Fox Wars begin. 1750 - Population: 650 (approximate). 1760 - British Major Robert Rogers and a group of his Rogers' Rangers take formal command of Fort Detroit during the French and Indian War. 1763 - Pontiac besieges Detroit during Pontiac's Rebellion. 1778 - Fort Lernault built. 1783 - The area south of the Great Lakes (including all of Michigan) is ceded by Great Britain to the United States by the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolutionary War. However, the British kept actual possession. 1796 - Fort Shelby and all other British posts in Michigan are turned over to the United States under terms of the Jay Treaty. Wayne County, containing Fort Shelby, was established as an administrative division of the Northwest Territory.
19th century 1805 June 11: The Great Fire of 1805 burns virtually the entire city. The city's motto, Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus ("We hope for better things, it will rise from the ashes") dates from this event. Detroit becomes capital of Michigan Territory. 1806 September 13: City of Detroit incorporated by the territorial governing council. Solomon Sibley becomes mayor. 1809 - February 24: Territorial governing council repeals the 1806 incorporation of the city. 1810 Methodist Episcopal Society formed. Population: 770. 1812 - August 16: Detroit surrenders without firing a shot to a small British-Indian army under General Isaac Brock in the War of 1812. 1813 - September: British forces retreat from Detroit after the Battle of Lake Erie, and the city would serve as a base for the American invasion of Upper Canada. 1815 - October 24: territorial governing council enacts the charter for the City of Detroit to be governed by a five-person board of trustees. 1817 Catholepistemiad (University of Michigan) established. Detroit Book Store in business. 1818 Walk-in-the-Water Great Lakes passenger steamboat begins operating. Detroit Mechanics' Society formed. 1824 - August 5: newly formed territorial legislature reorganizes city government, creating the Common Council and office of mayor. 1828 - Capitol building constructed. 1831 Democratic Free Press newspaper begins publication. Detroit Athenaeum active. 1832 - Cholera epidemic. 1833 June 14: Blackburn Riot. Roman Catholic diocese of Detroit established. 1835 - June 29: State constitution adopted. 1836 - Municipal water works established. 1837 City becomes capital of the new U.S. State of Michigan (until 1847). University of Michigan relocated from Detroit to Ann Arbor. 1837 to 1838 - Small bands of self-proclaimed "Patriots", some operating from Detroit, invade Canada in the Patriot War. 1838 - Detroit-Pontiac railway begins operating. 1840 - Population: 9,102. 1843 - Michigan State Convention of Colored Citizens meets in Detroit. 1845 - Detroit News begins publication. 1846 - Elmwood Cemetery established. 1848 State capital relocated from Detroit to Lansing. Saints Peter and Paul Church built. 1850 Temple Beth El congregation formed. Population: 21,019. 1854 - "Rail connection between Detroit and New York City" begins operating. 1860 - Population: 45,619. 1863 - Anti-draft and race riot in Detroit. 1865 Detroit Public Library and Detroit Police Department established. Michigan State Equal Rights League Convention meets in Detroit. 1868 - Detroit College of Medicine founded. 1870 - Population: 79,577. 1871 - Detroit City Hall built. 1872 - Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument unveiled. 1877 - Detroit College (now the University of Detroit Mercy and U of D Jesuit HS) is founded by the Society of Jesus. 1879 - Belle Isle becomes part of city. 1880 - Population: 116,340. 1881 - Future industrialist William Boeing born. 1885 Detroit Museum of Art established. Detroit College of Medicine active. 1887 - Detroit Symphony Orchestra formed. 1890 Reformist Hazen Pingree becomes mayor. "Free music in city parks" begins. Population: 205,876. 1891 - Detroit College of Law established. 1893 - Palmer Park established. 1894 - Mayor "establishes vegetable gardens for the poor" ("Pingree's Potato Patches"). 1895 - "Public lighting" begins. 1896 Charles Brady King becomes the first person to drive an automobile in Detroit. Ford Quadricycle created by Henry Ford. Bennett Park baseball field opens. 1899 - Detroit Automobile Company in business. 1900 Population: 285,704. Area of city: 29 square miles.
20th century
1900s-1950s 1900: At the beginning of the century, Detroit had 285,704 residents (13th largest city in the U.S. 1901 Detroit Tigers baseball team formed. 1902 Cadillac Automobile Company in business. Wayne County Courthouse built. Future aviator Charles Lindbergh born. 1903 Ford Motor Company and Pewabic Pottery in business. Board of Commerce formed. 1904 Belle Isle Aquarium opens. 1907 Detroit auto show begins. Area of city: 41 square miles. 1909 - Ford Building constructed. 1911: Chevrolet opens its first factory in Detroit. This was significant in the birth of Detroit as the center of the American automobile industry, something that became huge in the city's economy and overall identity. 1912 Navin Field (baseball park) opens. Dime Building constructed. 1913 1913 Studebaker strike Broadway-Strand Theatre in business. 1914 - Detroit Institute of Musical Arts founded. 1915 - Kiwanis Club founded. 1916: Large influx of African Americans into the city during the Great Migration 1917: The World War I Draft occurred. Known as the Selective Service Act of 1917, 24 million men between the ages of 18 and 45 registered to fight. This created many more jobs for African Americans in the city of Detroit as a lot of working men went off to war. 1918 1918 influenza epidemic. WW1 ends 1919 - Orchestra Hall opens. 1920: Detroit becomes the 4th largest city in America 1920s: All throughout the 1920s, patterns arose of whites beginning to define black neighborhoods by race. The 8 mile Wyoming colonie became a prominent arena for African Americans. White bureaucrats decided to erect a wall known as the"Detroit Wall" to segregate a black neighborhood in Detroit for real estate purposes. Paradise Valley also became a place that many blacks were confined to during this time. 8MK radio begins broadcasting. Color-coded traffic light introduced. Future athlete Sugar Ray Robinson born. Population: 993,078. 1921 - Detroit Historical Society formed. Organizations in the United States and Canada 1923: The Ford Motor Company and African American churches align. During this time, due to Henry Ford's strong relationship with prominent Black ministers in the city, his company was the largest employer of African American workers in all of Detroit. Ford and church leaders worked together in the black community to employ thousands and prevent conflicts between black and white workers. 1924 - Ambassador cinema in business. 1925 Buhl Building constructed. Ossian Sweet riots. A large crowd was protesting outside Ossian Sweet's house because they did not want him moving into their neighborhood. Rocks were thrown at his home and many windows were broken. Sweet responded by shooting into the crowd and was subsequently charged with murder. 1927 Detroit City Airport begins Detroit Institute of Arts built. 1928 Detroit Zoo opens. Skyscrapers Fisher Building and Penobscot Building built. Evans Gliding Club formed. 1929 Ambassador Bridge construction completed. Union Trust Building (skyscraper) built. 1930 Detroit-Windsor Tunnel construction completed. Detroit's electric streetcar systems peaks in size with 30 lines stretching over 534 miles. Population: 1,568,662. Wayne County Airport dedicated. 1932: Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) Act was passed. This act served to form the Federal Home Loan Bank Board which supervised loan institutions and to lower the overall cost of home ownership. 1933 Formation of Home Owners' Loan Cooperation (HOLC). Established as part of the New Deal, this group mainly served to help refinance home mortgages that faced a risk of foreclosure due to the 1929 economic crash and the housing industry collapse. Diego Rivera paints Detroit Industry Murals in the Institute of Arts. 1934: Formation of the Federal Housing Authority. The FHA is responsible for setting standards for construction and insuring and underwriting loans made by various lenders. 1935 The United Auto Workers labor union was founded. Ford was the first company to sign a contract with them, again showing the impact that the Ford Motor Company has had throughout Detroit's history. Detroit Tigers baseball team win 1935 World Series defeating the Chicago Cubs 4 games to 2. The season was their 35th since they entered the American League in 1901. It was the first World Series championship for the Tigers. 1936: 239 maps were commissioned by FHLB for the HOLC and the FHA. The FHLB determined which neighborhoods were safe for loans and which were not. This resulted in redlining and Blacks found it very difficult to get loans. 1937 The Wagner-Steagall Housing Act is passed. This provided a large amount of money for public housing. Citizen's housing and planning council formed in Detroit 1939 - Future film director Francis Ford Coppola born. 1940 - Population: 1,623,452. 1941 A lot of war production was occurring The Davidson Freeway was built (the first urban one ever built in the U.S). Exec Order 8802 (FEPC) - mandated non discrimination in the workplace (factories) Electric streetcars run on Woodward Avenue every 60 seconds at peak times. 1942: Pickets at Sojourner Truth Housing 1943: - The Detroit riot. A race riot, spurred by competition among black and white residents for wartime factory jobs, resulted in 34 deaths. 1944 GI Bill was passed. Blacks had trouble buying property outside redline areas and couldn't get loans to buy within red line areas. Future singer Diana Ross born. 1945 - Detroit Tigers won the 1945 World Series. 1946 - Russell Kelly Office Service 1948: Shelley v Kraemer. The decision ruled that restrictive covenants cannot be enforced. However, it was ineffective to get people to stop using them because they didn't want their neighborhood to get a poor rating. 1949: Taft Ellender Wagner Act is passed. This resulted in more funding for public housing.
1950s-1990s
1950 United Auto Workers sign agreement with General Motors ("Reuther's Treaty of Detroit"). Detroit's population reaches its height at 1.85 million. 1951 - Detroit celebrates its 250th anniversary with exhibitions, parades, lectures, entertainments, historical publications, new building construction and more. 1954 - City-County Building constructed. 1955 Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle active. Charles Diggs becomes U.S. representative for Michigan's 13th congressional district. 1956 - Electric streetcar service discontinued on Detroit's last line along Woodward Avenue. 1958 Wayne State University's McGregor Memorial Conference Center built. The Spirit of Detroit statue is dedicated. 1959 - Pavilion Apartments built in Lafayette Park. 1960 Motown Records in business.