Timeline of Minsk

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Minsk, Belarus.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 19th century

• 1067 - Battle on the Nemiga River occurs near Minsk.^[1]
• 1104 - Town besieged by Kiev forces.
• 1115 - Town besieged by Kiev forces again.
• 1129 - Town becomes part of Kievan Rus.
• 1242 - Town becomes part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
• 1413 - Minsk becomes part of the Vilno Voivodship.^[2]
• 1441 - City charter granted.
• 1499 - Magdeburg rights granted.^[3][2]
• 1505 - City besieged by Crimean Khanate army.^[4]
• 1508 - City besieged by Muscovy forces.^[4]
• 1552 - Town privileges extended.
• 1569 - City becomes part of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.^[2]
• 1591 - Minsk coat of arms granted.
• 1616 - Basilian monastery, Minsk founded.
• 1642 - Bernardine monastery built.
• 1654 - Russians in power.
• 1667 - City becomes part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth again.
• 1673 - Church built at Kalvaryja.
• 1685 - Yeshiva founded.^[5]
• 1708 - Swedes in power.
• 1709 - Russians in power.
• 1710 - Jesuit church built.
• 1793 - City becomes part of Russian Empire.^[4][2]
• 1796 - City becomes centre of Minsk Governorate.
• 1798 - Catholic diocese of Minsk formed.^[6]
• 1799 - Orthodox diocese of Minsk and Volyn headquartered in Minsk.

19th century

• 1805 - Governor's Garden established.
• 1808 - Kalvaryja cemetery in use (approximate date).
• 1812 - November: Russian forces oust the French.^[7]
• 1821 - Population: 2,000 (approximate).^[8]
• 1825 - Pischalauski Castle built.
• 1827 - Population: 3,000 (approximate).^[9]
• 1831 - Polish uprising.^[3]
• 1836 - Alexander Square, Minsk established.
• 1837 - Fire brigade in operation.
• 1838 - Minskiye gubernskiye vedomosti newspaper begins publication.
• 1840 - Military Cemetery established.
• 1844 - Theatre opens.
• 1845
  • Public library established.^[10]
  • Population: 20,000 (approximate).^[11]
• 1846 - Moscow-Warsaw road laid out.
• 1857 - Greek Catholic Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul rebuilt.^[12]
• 1860 - Population: 27,000.
• 1864 - Church of Holy Trinity consecrated.
• 1871 – Moscow-Warsaw railway begins operating.
• 1872 - Municipal water supply introduced.
• 1873 - Vilnius railway station built.
• 1882 - Population: 53,328.^[13]
• 1886 - Minskiy Listok newspaper begins publication.^[1]
• 1890 - Kupala Theatre opens.^[14]
• 1892 – Horse tram begins operating.
• 1897 - Population: 91,494.^[4]
• 1898 - Russian Social Democratic Labour Party founded in Minsk.^[15][1]

20th century

Map of Minsk, 1941

• 1902 - "All-Russian Congress of Zionists" held in Minsk.^[1]
• 1910 - Church of Saints Simon and Helena consecrated.
• 1911 - Tolstoy library founded.^[10]
• 1913 - Population: 117,600.^[16]
• 1914 - Minsk teachers institute founded.
• 1917
  • November: "Bolshevik troops arrive in Minsk."^[17]
  • December: First All-Belarusian Congress meets in city.^[1]
• 1918
  • February: German forces oust Bolsheviks.^[17]
  • 25 March: "First All-Belarusian Congress declares independence of the Belarusian Democratic Republic."^[1]
• 1919
  • 8 January: City becomes capital of Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.^[2]
  • August: Poles engage in Operation Minsk against Soviets.
• 1920
  • July: Soviet forces take city.^[17]
  • Belarusian State Polytechnic Institute established.
  • Theatre opens.
• 1921
  • Aleksandrovsky, Lyakhovsky, and Central administrative districts created.
  • Belarusian State University established.
  • City hosts first All-Belarusian Conference of Librarians.^[10]
• 1923 - Museum of the First Congress of the Russian Social Demcratic Workers' Party founded.^[18]
• 1926 - January: City hosts first Congress of Belarusian Archeologists and Archeographers.^[10]
• 1927 - Sovetskaya Belorussiya newspaper begins publication.
• 1929 – Electric tram begins operating.
• 1930 - Minsk State Medical Institute founded.
• 1931 - Belarussian Young Spectators' Theatre established.^[14]
• 1932 - Belarusian State Conservatory, Minsk Botanical Garden,^[19] and Kamaroúski Park established.
• 1933
  • Minsk-1 Airport begins operating.
  • Opera and Ballet Theatre^[14] and Belarusian Institute for National Economy established.
• 1934 - Dynama Stadium built.
• 1937 - Kurapaty death camp begins operating near city.^[1]
• 1938 - Kaganovich, Stalin, and Voroshilov administrative districts created.
• 1939
  • Soviet Belarus film studio relocates to Minsk.
  • National Opera and Ballet of Belarus building opens.
  • Belarusian State Art Gallery established.
  • Population: 238,948.^[20]
• 1941
  • June: Bombing of Minsk.^[21]
  • June 28: German occupation begins.^[17]
  • July 17: Reichskommissariat Ostland established.
  • July 20: Minsk Ghetto established.
• 1942 - May: Maly Trostenets extermination camp in operation.
• 1943 - State Archive for Film established.^[22]
• 1944
  • 4 July: Red Army takes city.^[17]
  • Minsk Automobile Plant established.
  • Belarusian Great Patriotic War Museum opens.
  • Zvyazda newspaper in publication.
• 1945 - Belarus Theatrical Institute founded.
• 1946
  • Minsk Tractor Works established.
  • Belarusian Institute of Technology relocates to Minsk.
• 1948 - Minsk Institute for Foreign Languages founded.
• 1950
  • Yanka Kupala Park and Pobieda Kino (cinema)^[23] established.
  • Tarpeda Stadium built.
  • Belarusian State Puppet Theatre active.^[14]
• 1954
  • Minsk Wheeled Tractor Plant founded.
  • Victory Square monument erected.
• 1955
  • Children's Railroad opens.
  • Vasily Ivanovich Sharapov becomes mayor.^[24][25]
• 1957 - Belarusian State History Museum established.
• 1959
  • Minsk Refrigerator Plant established.
  • Population: 509,667.
• 1963 - MKAD (Minsk) ring road constructed.
• 1964 - Radioengineering Institute established.
• 1967 - Vecherniy Minsk newspaper begins publication.^[26]
• 1968 - Stadium of the VSS Red Banner opens.
• 1970
  • Belarussian State Musical Comedy Theatre active.^[14]
  • Population: 917,428.
• 1971 - Belarus Optical & Mechanical Enterprise founded.
• 1979
  • Belarusian History Museum opens.
  • Population: 1,333,000.^[27]
• 1981 - Biennial puppet festival begins.^[14]
• 1982 - Minsk National Airport begins operating.
• 1984
  • Minsk Metro begins operating.
  • Minsk Zoo opens.
• 1988 - 30 October: Demonstration; crackdown.^[1]
• 1989
  • 19 February: "Rally of 'informals.'"^[1]
  • 30 September: Environmental protest.^[28]
  • 1989 - Population: 1,607,077.
• 1990 - Public Library of the City of Minsk established.^[10]
• 1991
  • April: Labor strike.^[1]
  • City becomes capital of Republic of Belarus.^[2]
  • City "becomes the headquarters of the successor to the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States."^[21][29]
  • Belarusian Nature and Environment Museum and Academy of Public Administration founded.
• 1992 - International Sakharov Environmental University and Republican Institute for Vocational Education established.
• 1993
  • July: Belarusians of the World congress held in city.^[1]
  • Listapad film festival begins.
• 1995 - Vladimir Yermoshin becomes mayor.^[24]
• 1996
  • November: "Chernobyl march."^[30]
  • National Academic Bolshoi Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus and National Academic Opera Theatre of Belarus formed.
• 1999
  • 30 May: Nyamiha metro disaster.^[17]
  • Moscow bus station (Minsk) built.

21st century

• 2000
  • 15 March: Political demonstration held.^[31]
  • Mikhail Pavlov becomes mayor.^[24]
  • Darida Stadium opens.
• 2001 - March: Anti-Lukashenko demonstration.^[21]
• 2002
  • Minsk Passazhirsky railway station and Football Manege arena built.
  • MKAD (Minsk) ring road rebuilt.
• 2004
  • Kurapaty monument installed.
  • IIHF World U18 Championships held.
• 2005 - 14 May: Water féerie demonstration.
• 2006
  • March: Jeans Revolution.^[21]
  • November: Summit of Commonwealth of Independent States.
  • National Library of Belarus building opens.
• 2007 - March: Anti-Lukashenko demonstration.^[21]
• 2008 - 4 July: Bombing.
• 2009 - Ў Gallery founded.^[32]
• 2010
  • December: Post-election demonstration.^[33][21]
  • Minsk-Arena opens.
  • Nikolai Aleksandrovich Ladutko becomes mayor.^[24]
• 2011
  • 11 April: Metro bombing.^[21]
  • Protests against Lukashenko regime.^[34]
• 2012
  • 4 July: Teddy bear airdrop.^[35]
  • Population: 1,901,700.
• 2014
  • May: 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship held in city.^[36]
  • Andrei Victorovich Shorets becomes mayor.^[24]
  • Population: 1,921,807 city; 2,101,018 metro.

See also

• History of Minsk
  • Timeline of Minsk governance
  • Timeline of technology in Minsk
  • Minsk population growth
• History of Minsk with timeline (in Belarusian Taraškievica)
• List of mayors of Minsk

References

1. Vitali Silitski; Jan Zaprudnik (2007). "Chronology". The A to Z of Belarus. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1-4617-3174-0.
2. "About Minsk". Minsk City Executive Committee. Retrieved September 2015.
3. "Minsk", New International Encyclopaedia, New York: Dodd, Mead, 1905
4. "Minsk", Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424
5. "Minsk". Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Yivo Institute for Jewish Research. Retrieved February 2015.
6. "Chronology of Catholic Dioceses: Russia". Norway: Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo. Retrieved September 2015.
7. William Henry Overall, ed. (1870). "Minsk, Russia". Dictionary of Chronology. London: William Tegg.
8. Jedidiah Morse; Richard C. Morse (1821), A New Universal Gazetteer (3rd ed.), New Haven: S. Converse
9. Conrad Malte-Brun (1827), Universal Geography, Philadelphia: A. Finley, OCLC 9262496
10. Liavon Yurevich (2010), "Belarus: Libraries", in Marcia J. Bates, Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, ISBN 9780849397127
11. John Thomson (1845), The new universal gazetteer and geographical dictionary, London: H.G. Bohn
12. "Minsk". Russia. Leipzig: Karl Baedeker. 1914. OCLC 1328163.
13. "Russia". Statesman's Year-Book. London: Macmillan and Co. 1885.
14. Vankarem Nikiforovich (1994). "Belarus". In Don Rubin; et al. World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: Europe. Routledge. pp. 94–106. ISBN 9780415251570.
15. James C. Docherty; Peter Lamb (2006). "Chronology". Historical Dictionary of Socialism (2nd ed.). Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6477-1.
16. "Russia: Principal Towns: European Russia". Statesman's Year-Book. London: Macmillan and Co. 1921.
17. "Belarus". Political Chronology of Europe. Europa Publications. 2003. pp. 16+. ISBN 978-1-135-35687-3.
18. Russia & Belarus. Lonely Planet. 2006. ISBN 978-1-74104-291-7.
19. "Garden Search". London: Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Retrieved September 2015.
20. "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1939" [Census of 1939], Demoscope Weekly (in Russian), ISSN 1726-2887
21. "Belarus Profile: Timeline", BBC News, retrieved September 2015
22. Film and Television Collections in Europe: the MAP-TV Guide. Routledge. 1995. ISBN 978-1-135-37262-0.
23. "Movie Theaters in Minsk, Belarus". CinemaTreasures.org. Los Angeles: Cinema Treasures LLC. Retrieved September 2015.
24. "History of the Minsk City authorities since 1879". Minsk.gov.by. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
25. Lee Harvey Oswald (10 July 1964), "Oswald Called It My 'Historic Diary' -- and It Is", Life (USA)
26. "Belarus". Europa World Year Book. Europa Publications. 2004. ISBN 978-1-85743-254-1.
27. Henry W. Morton and Robert C. Stuart, ed. (1984). The Contemporary Soviet City. New York: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-87332-248-5.
28. "Marchers in Minsk Demand Further Chernobyl Cleanup". New York Times. 1 October 1989.
29. "Familiar Questions for Ancient Minsk", New York Times, 30 December 1991
30. David R. Marples (2012). "Chronology". Belarus: A Denationalized Nation. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-41197-9.
31. "Belarus: Chronology". Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia. Regional Surveys of the World. Europa Publications. 2002. pp. 132–136. ISBN 978-1-85743-137-7.
32. "Belarus". Art Spaces Directory. New York: New Museum. Retrieved September 2015.
33. "World Report 2012: Belarus". Human Rights Watch.
34. "Hundreds arrested in Belarus at anti-Lukashenko rallies". BBC News. 7 July 2011.
35. "Teddy Bears Fall From Sky, and Heads Roll in Minsk". New York Times. 1 August 2012.
36. "An insider's cultural guide to Minsk", The Guardian (UK), 18 August 2015

This article incorporates information from the Belarusian Wikipedia and the Russian Wikipedia.

Further reading

• "Minsk", Jewish Encyclopedia 8, New York, 1906

External links

Media related to History of Minsk at Wikimedia Commons

• Europeana. Items related to Minsk, various dates.
• Digital Public Library of America. Items related to Minsk, various dates