Maryland Capsule Chronology

c. 10,000 BC

Indians known to have lived in Maryland by this date.

c. 1,000 BC

Indian introduction of pottery.

c. 800 BC

Indian introduction of domesticated plants.

c. 1,000 AD

Permanent Indian villages established.

1498

John Cabot sailed along Eastern Shore off present-day Worcester County.

1524

Giovanni da Verrazano passed mouth of Chesapeake Bay.

1572

Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spanish governor of Florida, explored Chesapeake Bay.

1608

Capt. John Smith explored Chesapeake Bay.

1631

Kent Island settled by Virginia under William Claiborne.

1632, June 20

Maryland Charter granted to Cecilius Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore, by Charles I, King of England.

1634, March 25

Landing of settlers at St. Clement's Island.

1635, Feb. 26

First General Assembly met at St. Mary's.

1649, April 21

Religious toleration law enacted.

1652, March 29

Parliamentary commissioners hold jurisdiction over colony, curtailing proprietary authority.

1655, March 25

Puritans from Virginia defeated Gov. William Stone's forces at Battle of the Severn.

1657, Nov. 30

Lord Baltimore's claim to Maryland reaffirmed.

1664

Slavery sanctioned by law; slaves to serve for life.

1689, July-1690, May

Maryland Revolution of 1689.

1692, April-1715

Crown rule; Maryland governed as a royal colony rather than a proprietary province.

1694

Capital moved from St. Mary's City to Annapolis.

1696

King William's School (later St. John's College) founded at Annapolis.

1727, Sept.

Maryland Gazette began publication at Annapolis.

1729

Baltimore Town established.

1732

Establishment of boundary line with three lower counties of Pennsylvania, which later became Delaware.

1744, June 30

Indian chiefs of the Six Nations relinquished by treaty all claims to land in colony.

1747

Tobacco inspection enabled Maryland to control quality of exports.

1763-1767

Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon surveyed bouundary line with Pennsylvania.

1765

Stamp Act resistance at Frederick.

1776, July 4

Declaration of Independence adopted in Philadelphia. Engrossed copy signed by Marylanders William Paca, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Thomas Stone and Samuel Chase.

1776, July 6

Maryland Convention declared independence from Great Britain.

1776, Nov. 5

Declaration of Rights adopted by Ninth Convention. Church of England disestablished.

1776, Nov. 8

First State Constitution adopted by Ninth Convention.

1776, Dec. 20-1777, March 4

Continental Congress met at Baltimore.

1781, March 1

Maryland ratified, and thereby made effective, the Articles of Confederation.

1783, Dec. 23

Washington resigned commission as Commander-in-Chief of Continental Army at State House in Annapolis.

1784, Jann. 14

Treaty of Paris, ending Revolutionary War, ratifited by Congress at Annapolis.

1788, April 28

Maryland, the seventh state, ratified U.S. constitution.

1789, Dec. 19

Maryland ratified Bill of Rights, first ten amendments to U.S. Constitution.

1791, Dec. 19

Maryland ceded land for District of Columbia.

1796

Baltimore City incorporated.

1802

Property qualification for voting removed in local elections.

1803

Viva voce voting at elections changed to voting by ballot.

1810

Property qualification ended in voting for elections for president, vice-president, and congressmen.

1810

Free blacks disenfranchised.

1814, Aug. 24

Battle of Bladensburg. (War of 1812)

1814, Sept. 12

British repulsed at Battle of North Point.

1814, Sept. 13

Bombardment of Fort McHenry, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write "Star-Spangled Banner."

1818

National Road completed from Cumberland to Wheeling.

1824-1829

Chesapeake and Delaware Canal constructed.

1827, Feb. 28

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad chartered.

1837, May 17

The Baltimore Sun began publication.

1838, Oct. 3

Governor and State senators first elected by voters rather than by legislature.

1844, May 24

Samuel E. B. Morse demonstrated telegraph line from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore.

1845, Oct. 10

U.S. Naval Academy adopted.

1854-1859

Rise of "Know Nothing Party." Baltimore riots named city "Mobtown."

1859, Oct. 16

John Brown launched raid from Maryland on Federal arsenal, Harper's Ferry.

1861, April 19

Sixth Massachusetts Union Regiment attacked by Baltimore mob.

1861, April 26

General Assembly met in special session at Frederick while federal troops occupied Annapolis.

1861, May 13

Gen. Benjamin E. Butler's Union forces occupied Batlimore.

1862, Sept. 17

Battle of Antietam.

1863, June

Confederates invaded Maryland en route to Gettysburg.

1864, July 6

Hagerstown held for ransom by Confederates.

1864, July 9

Frederick held for ransom by Confederates.

1864, Nov. 1

Maryland slaves emancipated by State Constitution of 1864.

1877, Jan. 16

Maryland-Virginia boundary demarcated by Jenkins-Black Award.

1877, July 20-22

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad strike riot at Baltimore.

1886, Jan. 5

Enoch Pratt Free Library opened in Baltimore.

1888-1889

Oyster Wars; Maryland and Virginia watermen fought on Chesapeake Bay.

1890

Australian secret ballot in elections adopted.

1894

First child labor law passed.

1902

Workman's compensation law enacted, first such law in U.S. Cumpulsory school attendance law passed.

1904

Baltimore fire. Seventy blocks in heart of business district devastated.

1931, March 3

"Star-Spangled Banner" adopted as national anthem.

1937

State income tax instituted.

1937, June 1

City of Greenbelt chartered, a New Deal model community.

1947, July 1

State sales tax instituted.

1950, June 24

Friendship International Airport (later BWI) began operation.

1952, July 31

Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened.

1957, Nov. 29

Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.

1959, May

Goddard Space Flight Center opened in Greenbelt.

1970, Spring

Student rebellion at Univerrsity of Maryland, College Park.

1973

Urban "homesteading" begun in Baltimore. City sold abandoned houses for $1 each to buyers for renovation.

1980, July 2

Harborplace, a 3-acre center of restaurants and shops, opened in Baltimore City, signaling the revitalization of Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

1981

National Aquarium opened in Baltimore.

1987, Dec. 14

Chesapeake Bay Agreement to restore and protect the Bay signed by Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, District of Columbia, Chesapeake Bay Commission, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Source: State of Maryland.