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Istanbul

largest city in Turkey

44 dated entries naming Istanbul, drawn from 41 separate years between 667 BCE and 2025 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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7th century BC

  • 667 BCEByzantium (modern Istanbul) is founded by Megaran colonists under Byzas.source

2nd century BC

  • 200 BCEAlexander the Great, head from a Hellenistic copy of a statue, possibly after a 4th century BC original by Lysippos is made. It is now kept at the Archeological Museum in Istanbul, Turkey.source

4th century

  • 330May 11 – Emperor Constantine the Great dedicates the Column of Constantine and Constantinople, or Nova Roma (modern-day Istanbul). He had spent four years expanding the city of Byzantium, having chosen the site for its strategic location on the Bosporus. The city became the capital of the Byzantine Empire.source
  • 373The Aqueduct of Valens is inaugurated near Constantinople (modern Istanbul); the aqueduct has a length of 971 meters.source

7th century

  • 624March 25 – Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium, departs from his capital at Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey) with his wife, the Empress Martina, and two of his children, and does not return for more than four years.source

13th century

  • 1223January 4 – Germanus II takes office as Patriarch of Constantinople, leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, after moving the patriarchate's capital 56 mi from Constantinople (now Istanbul) to Nicaea (now Iznik in Turkey), as the guest of John III Doukas Vatatzes, Emperor of Nicaea.source

14th century

  • 1303January 17 – A major earthquake strikes Byzantium and Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey). Byzantine Emperor Michael IX Palaiologos spreads the word that the former Patriarch of the Eastern Church, Athanasius I had given him a warning about the imminent wrath of God against the city.source

16th century

  • 1535April 11 – The visiting Ottoman envoys to France depart from Marseille, six months after having arrived from Istanbul in October. Jean de La Forêt, the new French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, accompanies the Ottoman fleet with his party on a French galley, and the group sails to Tunis.source

17th century

  • 1616Istanbul's Sultan Ahmed Mosque (also known as the Blue Mosque) is completed during the rule of Ahmed I.source
  • 1650Estimation – Istanbul becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Beijing.source
  • 1660July 24 – The Great Fire of 1660 begins in Constantinople, capital of the Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul in Turkey), and destroys two-thirds of the city over two consecutive days, consuming 280,000 buildings and killing 40,000 people.source
  • 1666September 16 – The Apostasy of Sabbatai Zevi begins in Istanbul.source
  • 1682October 12 – Sultan Mehmed IV departs Istanbul for Adrianople.source

18th century

  • 1717Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wife of the British ambassador to Istanbul, has her son inoculated.source
  • 1745December 28 – For 5 days, fire destroys buildings in Istanbul.source
  • 1750January 24 – A fire in Istanbul destroys 10,000 homes.source
  • 1752July 1 – In Istanbul, Divitdar Mehmed Emin Pasha is dismissed from his position as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire by the Ottoman Sultan, Mahmud I. The Sultan appoints Çorlulu Ali Pasha as the new Grand Vizier.source
  • 1763Little Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, is damaged in an earthquake.source

19th century

  • 1826June 14–15 – The Auspicious Incident: Mahmud II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, crushes the last mutiny of janissaries in Istanbul.source
  • 1829July 2 – Russo-Turkish War (1828–29): Russian Field-Marshal Hans Karl von Diebitsch launches the Trans-Balkan Offensive, which brings the Russian army within 68 km mi of Istanbul.source
  • 1878February 8 – The British fleet enters Turkish waters, and anchors off Istanbul; Russia threatens to occupy Istanbul, but does not carry out the threat.source
  • 1883October 4 – The Orient Express train begins to run through from Paris Gare de l'Est to Giurgiu in Romania, with onward ferry and train connections to Istanbul (the train has been running since June 5 as far as Vienna).source

20th century

  • 1905October 1 – Turkish Association football team Galatasaray is founded in Istanbul.source
  • 1913September 29 – Second Balkan War: The Treaty of Constantinople is signed in Istanbul, between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria.source
  • 1915April 24 – Armenian genocide: deportation of Armenian notables from Istanbul begins.source
  • 1920March 15–16 – Constantinople is occupied by British Empire forces, acting for the Allied Powers against the Turkish National Movement. Retrospectively, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey regards this as the dissolution of the Ottoman regime in Istanbul.source
  • 1923October 13 – Ankara replaces Istanbul (Constantinople), as the capital of Turkey.source
  • 1930March 28 – The government of Turkey requests the international community to adopt Istanbul and Ankara, as the official names for Constantinople and Angora. The U.S. State Department adopts the "Istanbul" form in May.source
  • 1955July 27 – El Al Flight 402 from Vienna (Austria) to Tel Aviv, via Istanbul, is shot down over Bulgaria. All 58 passengers and crewmen aboard the Lockheed Constellation are killed.source
  • 1955September 6 – Istanbul pogrom: Istanbul's Greek minority is the target of a government-sponsored pogrom.source
  • 1970October 17 – A cholera epidemic breaks out in Istanbul.source
  • 1971May 15 – Israeli ambassador to Turkey Efraim Elrom is kidnapped; he is found killed in Istanbul May 25.source
  • 1973October 30 – The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus Strait for the first time in history.source
  • 1977May 1 – The Taksim Square massacre in Istanbul results in 34 deaths and hundreds of injuries.source
  • 1986September 6 – In Istanbul, two Abu Nidal terrorists kill 22 and wound 6 inside the Neve Shalom Synagogue during Shabbat services.source
  • 1988July 3 – The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus.source

21st century

  • 2004May 12–15 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 takes place in Istanbul, Turkey, and is won by Ukrainian entrant Ruslana with the song "Wild Dances".source
  • 2016January 12 – Ten people are killed and 15 wounded in a bombing near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.source
  • 2016June 28 – 2016 Atatürk Airport attack: ISIL is suspected to be responsible for attacking Atatürk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 44 people and injuring over 230 others.source
  • 2017January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 39 people and injuring 79 others.source
  • 2017January 16 – Turkish Airlines Flight 6491, a cargo flight en route from Hong Kong to Istanbul via Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, crashes in a residential area while attempting to land at Manas International Airport, Bishkek, killing all four crew members on board and 35 people on the ground.source
  • 2018October 2 – The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, triggering a diplomatic crisis for Saudi Arabia.source
  • 2020July 10 – Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan orders the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to be reverted to a mosque following a supreme court annulment of a 1934 presidential decree that made it into a museum.source
  • 2025March 19 – Nationwide protests erupt across Turkey following the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, on charges of corruption and terrorism.source

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